Search Ends as Focus Shifts to Identifying Final Missing Workers

Incident command confirms no further bodies found in State Audit Office rubble after 45-day operation; forensic analysis underway for remaining seven unaccounted for; site handover planned

 

The search operation for construction workers missing in the collapse of the State Audit Office (STO) building in Bangkok has been brought to a close after 45 days.

 

While the vast majority of those unaccounted for have now been located, tragically resulting in the confirmed deaths of 89 individuals and the survival of nine, efforts are now concentrated on the forensic identification of the final seven missing workers.

 

Suriyachai Rawiwan, Director of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and head of the incident command centre, announced on Saturday that exhaustive searches of the final areas of interest, including Zone B and all six lift shafts, had yielded no additional bodies.

 



 

The active search was therefore concluded on Friday. However, teams are still meticulously examining any remaining bodily fragments within the removed concrete and steel debris, with scans taking place twice daily at the designated debris storage location.
  

It is now believed that the remaining seven missing individuals are no longer intact within the main collapse site. Instead, recovered tissue and bodily fragments are awaiting forensic analysis to confirm their identities.

 



 

The severity of the building's collapse resulted in significant fragmentation of the workers' bodies, necessitating the examination of over 250 recovered pieces of organs, tissue, and bone.

 

The incident command centre is scheduled to hand the site back to the STO on 15th May, with the Director of Chatuchak District having already formally informed the STO of this.

 

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and forensic science teams will continue their evidence gathering at the site as required, with collections still taking place as recently as Friday (9th May).
  



 

Simultaneously, insurance companies are liaising with investigating officers at Bang Sue Police Station to access the site and gather information relevant to insurance claims.

 

At the joint operations centre, families of the missing workers have been attending to request official death certificates and to collect personal belongings recovered from the building, primarily consisting of cash and wallets.

(2025/05/10-00:00)