Contract Worker Found Dead in Bangkok BTS Station Drainage Pipe

A 32-year-old contract worker involved in underground power cable installation was found dead after falling into a drainage pipe beneath Bangkok's BTS Punnawithi station on September 18. At approximately 7:04 a.m., the Phra Khanong District Office received a report via the 199 emergency hotline about a male worker who had fallen into a drainage pipe beneath the station in the Bang Chak sub-district, Phra Khanong district. Firefighters and rescuers from the Phra Khanong Fire and Rescue Station were dispatched to the scene to conduct a search. Initial information suggested the man may have entered the pipe to wash himself before apparently slipping and falling inside. The pipe was estimated to be 2–3 meters deep. At 8:55 a.m., a Poh Teck Tung rescue diving team located the worker’s body inside the pipe and brought it out of the area for the relevant authorities to carry out the next procedures. Police from Phra Khanong Police Station, Phra Khanong firefighters, and rescue volunteers supported the operation. Phra Khanong District Director Saithip Sukonmanee stated that the site was being used by a contractor working for the Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA) to move power cables underground. The work was carried out overnight, with the area normally scheduled to be handed back in the morning. The victim was an employee of the contractor and was believed to have been at the site shortly before the end of the work shift and handover. Workers were expected to be accounted for before the site was returned, but the man was found to be missing, leading colleagues to search for him and eventually discover that he had fallen into the drainage pipe. (TNA)