A SIX-HOUR test of 28 steel samples collected from the rubble of the State Audit Building that collapsed during last Friday’s (March 28) earthquake centred at Mandalay, Myanmar, shows that the larger pieces were substandard, Amarin TV said late last night (March 31).
The samples were collected by a team from the Industry Ministry with the Iron and Steel Institute of Thailand using chemical and mechanical values to test the seven types of steel samples with the small pieces being flattened before ascertaining their chemical values.
Mr. Ekkanit Romyanon, Industry Minstry’s inspector-general, said at a joint press conference at 7.20 p.m. that a test of the random steel samples showed that some met the standard while others did not.
However the team will be collecting additional samples for a clear analysis but it was not mentioned how many would be needed to fully determine what was used to build this building.
Reporters asked about the size of the problematic steel bars with the team initially refusing to answer because they were afraid it would affect their ongoing fact-finding mission.
However they did later reveal that low-quality ones were 32mm and 20mm rebars.
Ms. Thitipat Chotidechachainan, head of the ministry’s working group, said one of them was a 20mm rebar that failed to meet the mass per metre standard while the other was a 32mm rebar that did not meet the tensile strength standard.
It is noteworthy that these two substandard rebars belonged to a Chinese manufacturing company which the ministry just closed down last December with 50 million baht worth of low-grade steel bars seized.
After this the forensic team will be collecting more steel samples from the rubble and will also go to the steel factory to inspect whether any smuggling took place as well as find out what sizes of steel it had sold to which parties. They would also have to find out if the evidence is still there.
Even if the steel was sold before the factory was closed, if it is found to not meet the standard, legal action can be taken under the Thai Industrial Standards Institute Act, with distributors also being prosecuted.
It was also announced at 7.25 p.m. that three more bodies of workers had been found buried under concrete slabs of the collapsed building with one having been brought out while cutting equipment was being used to remove the other two bodies, Naewna newspaper and Amarin TV said.
Thermal drones and robots were used to scan the rubble for additional survivors but none were found throughout the day.
The recovery of the body of a woman worker from Zone D takes the death toll to 13, nine men and five women, nine injured while search for 74 others continues.
CAPTION:
The steel samples from the collapsed building and the Industry Ministry team briefing the press last night, March 31, 2025. Photos: Amarin TV
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