At 4:40pm yesterday (Aug 26), Lt Santi Prakobpran of the Khok Kloi Police in Phang Nga, was notified of an ammonia leak at an ice factory at Moo 1, Lung Yung, Takua Thung, Phang Nga, and that the owners were trapped inside.
Col Jirasak Semsak, Chief of the Khok Kloi Police together with staff from the Phang Nga Provincial Disaster Mitigation Office, Emergency Relief Department 8, Phuket Crane Recovery Unit, Khok Kloi Fire Department and rescue workers attended the scene and immediately sprayed water into the facility to reduce the amount of ammonia in the air.
Residents living within a one kilometre radius of the facility were also advised to leave the area and the nearby area was closed to traffic.
From their preliminary investigation, Col Jirasak said that it was found that the owner of the plant had about 18 tanks of ammonia inside the factory.
The owner discovered that a pipe connected to one of the tanks was leaking.
They tried to close the valve on the tank which then also broke causing the ammonia to leak continuously.
Once rescue workers were able to gain access to the factory, which was by around 7:20pm, they found two people unconscious inside.
Both were taken to Takua Thung Hospital.
However, police were later advised that the owner of the factory, Siraphop Buarung, 69, a former police officer had died at the hospital.
Mr Siraphop’s family have been advised of his death.