7 killed as Bangkok scrap workers ‘drop’ WWII bomb

AT LEAST seven people have died and 19 more have been injured after an unexploded World War II bomb was accidentally detonated in a scrap metal shop in the Thai capital, Bangkok.

Thai charity workers stand next to a crater created by a bomb explosion at a scrap shop in Bangkok, Thailand. Picture: AP

Police bomb squad chief Kamthorn Auicharoen said construction workers found the bomb buried at a building site and sold it to the scrap shop in northern Bangkok.

He said workers at the shop were using a gas-powered thermal cutter to take the bomb apart when it exploded.

The massive blast ripped apart the scrap shop in Bangkok’s Lad Prao district and damaged nearby houses.

“It’s likely this is a bomb dropped from a plane during World War II,” said Kamthorn.

Construction workers on another project found a similar bomb in a different area of Bangkok just this past Saturday, but it was safely handed over to police explosive experts.

Bangkok was bombed by U.S. and British planes during World War II, when it was occupied by Japanese forces and served as a hub for their campaign in Southeast Asia.

Buried bombs from the era continue to be found from time to time in other major Asian cities, including Hong Kong and Singapore.