Death Toll Rises to Eight in Oil Tanker Explosion in Samut Songkhram

National —

An explosion that happened on board an oil tanker docked on the Mae Klong river in Samut Songkram’s Mueng district yesterday, January 17th, has caused eight confirmed casualties so far.

First our previous story:

An oil tanker capable of storing 3 million liters of oil exploded and caught fire while docking in Samut Songkham province.

Now for our update:

The tanker “Smooth Sea 22” exploded at a dockyard while waiting for maintenance. Seven dock workers (one Thai and six Burmese) were still missing.

Eight workers were confirmed killed. One Thai and three Burmese workers were injured by the blast.

At the time of the explosion, 10 workers were on the ship, while 30 others were on the bank of the dockyard, said Samut Songkhram governor Somnuk Promkaew.

He added that the tanker was not empty as previously reported, as it still contained around 25,000 liters of fuel oil and 20,000 liters of diesel.The cause of the explosion is still under investigation.