A sensor scanner provided by the U.S. military has detected 70 signs believed to be of missing persons inside the rubble of the collapsed State Audit Office building in Bangkok, Thailand.
According to the Bangkok Post, citing information from the Ruamkatanyu Rescue Foundation on the afternoon of April 1, these signs were discovered in the middle section of the collapsed building, specifically between the 17th and 21st floors, where most victims were believed to be working when the earthquake struck Myanmar on March 28.
A photo from Thai rescue and fire forces shows the collapsed building in downtown Bangkok due to the earthquake.
However, Bangkok Deputy Governor Tavida Kamolvej stated that it is not yet confirmed whether all 70 detected signs belong to missing persons. So far, 6 out of the 70 detected signs have been confirmed as human bodies.
Tavida also noted that because the 30-story building collapsed in a pancaked manner, it is difficult to accurately determine which floors the trapped individuals were on.
Rescue teams are doing their utmost to free those trapped, but they acknowledge that reaching the victims remains a massive challenge.
The main reasons for this difficulty include:
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The 30-story building was still under construction, meaning there were no complete blueprints.
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Walls within the building are up to 1 meter thick, making excavation efforts extremely difficult.
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The collapse site remains too dangerous to use heavy excavation machinery.
As a result, rescue workers are carefully removing debris piece by piece from top to bottom.
In a related development, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration reported that as of 8 AM on April 1, the earthquake in Myanmar on March 28 had resulted in 13 deaths, 19 injuries, and dozens still missing.