Under construction condo's fire escape collapses, 3 houses damaged

THE EXTERNAL fire escape of a luxury condo under construction in Nonthaburi city suddenly collapsed yesterday (Dec. 8) damaging three adjacent houses but fortunately no one was injured, Naewna newspaper said.

Reporters inspecting the site of this construction accident saw an announcement by Nonthaburi’s Building Control and Urban Planning Department temporarily suspending work but despite that workers were still working on the ground floor.

Mr. Bee (surname withheld), the owner of a house on which construction debris fell, said this accident occurred around 10 a.m. yesterday. He had just driven home and was about to open the gate when he heard a loud noise, which at first he thought was a car crash but moments later realised it was from the condo.

Upon looking up he saw that the roof of his house was full of dust with metal pieces having fallen all over it. Upon inspection he saw that the roof atop the second floor was damaged all around and part of the back yard too.

Bee related that the contractor came over and said he would take full responsibility including removing the debris and all that has been damaged and cleaning his house. He is now not too worried being reassured that the repairs will be fully covered but does not know how much it will add up to.

While inspecting the three damaged houses, the reporters saw that the roofs of all of them were damaged and concrete slabs had also fallen on the fence, yet construction workers who were repairing the fence told them not to take photos because the contractor had settled the matter with the house owners.

Later Mr. Wattanachai Wittayapradit, acting director of the Building Control and Urban Planning Department, visited the condo then ordered the building owner to implement a protection plan with this must be of the same height as the building under construction and cover every floor, as well as place project signs on this protective structure, to prevent harm to other people living nearby and their property.

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The damage caused by the collapse of the fire escape at a condo being built in Nonthaburi. Photos: Naewna