Seven people were killed and 19 others injured on Wednesday when workers at a scrap shop here in the Thai capital accidentally detonated a 227 Kg World War II bomb in Bangkok. Workers at the shop tried to cut the bomb open believing that it has been defused when the blast ripped them off.
Five of the workers died on the spot while several others were admitted to hospital. The blast brought down the building housing the scrap shop and damaged dozen of homes within a 500-meter radius. Body parts were found as far as 200 meters from the scene. Police said the explosion created a crater four meters wide and three meters deep.
The bomb may have come in with the soil used to fill the site before construction began. The allies conducted bombing raids on the Thai capital in retaliation for the kingdom joining the Japanese war effort in Southeast Asia.
