Wall collapse rains concrete on houses below
PHUKET: Three houses on Soi Panieng, in the northwest of Phuket Town, near Tesco-Lotus, were damaged when a wall on the top floor of a partly-completed building collapsed, raining concrete blocks on roofs below.
Thursday 15 March 2012, 09:38AM
Roof tiles were smashed and motorbikes, furniture and other household items were damaged.
Luckily, no one was killed though a student, Atchara Ubonjan, 21, is reported to have received injuries to her ankle when concrete blocks crashed through the roof of her room.
The owner of one of the three damaged houses, Boonlert Sitthiboon, 49, told The Phuket News that construction of the apartment building began last year. He said that a friend in the building trade had theorised that the wall might have collapsed because there were no columns to support it.
The owner of the apartment is understood to have received approval from authorities to build a four-storey building. The collapsed wall appears to have been part of an additional fifth floor.
Police are investigating whether the wall collapse was due to poor construction standards.
