Krabi District Chief Suriyan Narongkul and Krabi Police Chief Col Sompong Thiparpakul led officials including rescue workers and an emergency unit to investigate the building collapse at the Institute of Physical Education - Krabi Campus Muang district at 2:30pm.
Officials were told that many workers were missing when the second floor slab that was being poured collapsed on top of a number of construction workers working below.
After twenty minutes of searching, rescue workers found five bodies under the debris of wet cement and concrete fragments.
The victims were named as Jitranon Saikaew, 26, Kathleeya Jandeewan, 22,Yad Codon, 42, Warin Rachabuth, 31, Linthong Promsuwan, 37, all Thai nationals.
Mr Suriyan said, “Krabi rescue workers sprayed water onto the ready mix cement to prevent it from hardening and used a backhoe to move debris from the site to enable them to find the missing victims.
“We were hoping to find them alive, but all five had already died by the time we found them,” he said.
Another construction worker, Yun Noojaiy, 50, said that while they were waiting for cement truck to pour more concrete to make the slab, the whole level collapsed from underneath.
“The debris buried my wife and four other women who were working on the lower floor,” he said.
Construction of the three storey building started on July 30 2015 and was due to be complete by July 8 2017.