Police in Thailand have arrested a Chinese executive of construction firm China Railway No. 10 (Thailand) after the Bangkok office tower it was building disintegrated in the 28 March earthquake.
Forty-seven workers are now known to have died, and crews are trying to clear the building’s elevator shaft, where authorities believe the remains of 30 more are located.
Officers of Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation (DSI) apprehended Chuanling Zhang, described as a key shareholder of China Railway No.10, on Saturday at a hotel in Bangkok, The Nation reports.
DSI is also searching for three Thai nationals, also executives of China Railway No. 10, under suspicion of being nominee shareholders – a practice whereby foreign firms appoint Thai nationals for on-paper-only compliance with Thai law, in breach of the Foreign Business Act of 1999.
The 32-storey tower was being built in the Chatuchak district for Thailand’s State Audit office by a joint venture of China Railway No.10 and Thailand’s Italian-Thai Development.
It was the only building in Bangkok to collapse in the earthquake that happened in neighbouring Myanmar.
Separate investigations are underway into the possible use of substandard materials.
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