Surat Thani mine bombs still missing

By Suwannee Bunditsak 
The Nation

 

 

The Surat Thani bomb squad on Thursday still could not find three bombs planted inside a gypsum mine after a bomb accidentally went off, killing a certified engineer a day earlier.

 

Sanit Chukaew, 43, of Akkaraphat Mining, who died in the blast, was preparing to ignite four bombs in the mine when the accident took place. He was the only person who knew about the location of all the bombs.

 

The firm and provincial bomb squad police on Thursday managed to remove backhoes from inside the mine but failed to remove the drilling rig and two other backhoes as they were near where the explosion went off.

 

Pol Col Panumart Pattanarat, bomb squad chief, recommended the firm’s owner not remove the two backhoes out of fear that a spark from the engines may cause a blast.

 

They also agreed to delay work to retrieve the remaining equipment to let ammonium nitrate in the explosives that were believed to be under water degrade to minimise the chance of an explosion.

 

The areas have been sealed off around the clock.

 

Surat Thani’s Governor Wutchawut Jintoh said on Wednesday that the accident may have been caused because Sanit was carrying his mobile phone. “Somebody may have called him and ignited the explosive,” said the governor.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30346709

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-5-31

He was carrying his mobile?

 

Reminds me of a Brit explosives engineer on a project I worked on in Malaysia. Bit of an oddball, but that probably comes with the position. He overcooked a planned explosion one time and had a big lump of rock make a mess of the front passenger area of a landrover which had the site engineer sat in the drivers seat. Think he parked a bit further back  for future blasts........

 

RIP to the engineer and hope they recover the missing ordnance without further drama.

Demolition charges aren't 'bombs' and nor are these 'missing' in the manner alluded to by the headline.

reading the story it looks like they found a box with dynamite on a shipwreck that stranded a few hundred years ago

3 hours ago, retell said:

reading the story it looks like they found a box with dynamite on a shipwreck that stranded a few hundred years ago

It's journalism!   Why spoil a good story for the sake of a few facts.  ?

Backhoes are normally diesel and don't give off sparks.

 

They could always hook them up to a cable and drag them out.

from another thread running here  

 

 

"The civil-engineer occupation should remain reserved for Thais because it involves people’s safety, they said."

 

'nuff said.  Where is the face palm emoji when you need it?