80,000 impacted by huge blaze
Covid errors ‘enough to end govt this time’
At least 80,000 people have been affected by a massive fire that ravaged the Ming Dih Chemical Co factory complex in Bang Phli district of Samut Prakan on Monday.
The blaze was brought under control briefly yesterday only to reignite amid the charred ruins of the factory yesterday around 4pm, prompting firefighters to spray flame retardant foam in an attempt to control the latest blaze.
Overall, firefighters took more than 24 hours to douse the fire that followed an explosion around 3am on Monday.
They earlier announced the fire was under control at 5am yesterday.
One rescue worker was killed while battling the inferno and 40 others were injured including firefighters.
Provincial governor Wanchai Kongkasem yesterday said that the damage from the fire spanned a vast radius around the burned-out factory, causing damage to private property and affecting 80,916 people across four tambons in Bang Phli district.
Of the total, 34,736 people in 22,563 households were impacted in tambon Racha Thewa, 18,490 people in 12,363 households in tambon Bang Phli Yai, 23,277 people in 17,188 households in tambon Bang Kaew and 4,413 people in 4,177 households in tambon Bang Chalong.
The explosion and the fire forced the evacuation of 1,992 residents living within a 5-km radius of the factory.
Some of those affected took refuge at one of eight emergency shelters.
Pol Maj Gen Chumphon Phumphuang, chief of Samut Prakan provincial police, said 183 people have so far filed complaints of damage against the company.
Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa said the Pollution Control Department needs to ensure the air quality within 3-5km from the fire-gutted factory is safe before residents in the areas were allowed to return home.
An initial inspection showed that the air quality within one kilometre of the site was harmful to health yesterday.
Mr Varawut also noted the factory opened three decades when there was no environmental impact assessment (EIA) regulation in place.
The area will also be inspected as to whether it was originally designated for commercial or residential purposes, he added.
Meanwhile, Ming Dih Chemical Co has issued a statement expressing its profound regrets over the incident and pledged to offer compensation for all the damage that occurred.
The opposition Pheu Thai Party has vowed to initiate another censure debate to oust the government, saying a new motion will be submitted by next month so that it takes place before this parliamentary session ends on Sept 18.
“This is highly important as we can no longer let the government continue mismanaging this country while more dangers loom,” Pheu Thai’s secretarygeneral Prasert Chanthararuangthong said yesterday.
“We have already forwarded several proposals to the government about resolving the problems facing the country,” he said.
“However, it has chosen to ignore them so it can continue on its course of damaging the economy.”
Mismanagement of Covid-19 containment and the vaccination programme are among the most serious mistakes the government needs to be held accountable for, he said.
Asked how confident the opposition was this time about being able to remove the government from power, given the coalition’s majority in parliament, Mr Prasert said the current Covid-19 outbreak and economic situation are so serious the opposition believes it will win enough support from MPs.
Previously, Pheu Thai had also said it was looking to see if a lawsuit can be filed against Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha for mishandling the Covid-19 situation.
Asked if it was possible for individuals to file a lawsuit against the government, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said a no-confidence debate was normally the main channel for grilling the government and making it accountable for any mistakes.
As for any suspected violations of the law believed to have been committed by the government, petitions are normally filed with the Administrative Court that are sometimes won and other times lost, he said.
Asked if the current emergency decree prohibits any lawsuits from being filed against the government, he said civil suits can always be lodged against any state official to seek compensation for any alleged misconduct, while pursuing a criminal suit against would be rather difficult as they have immunity.
In related news, the House committee vetting the constitution amendment draft has chosen Palang Pracharath Party list-MP Paiboon Nititawan as its chairman.
He was elected with a winning majority vote of 27.