A schoolgirl was rushed to hospital with a fractured skull and nine other girls were injured when a construction crane collapsed yesterday in Bangkok, dropping its load onto the roof of a school gymnasium.
The girls were playing basketball in the gym at Assumption Convent School in Bang Rak district when debris crashed through the ceiling at around 11am, local media reported.
Police said the girl with a fractured skull was hit by a metal sheet.
The project to turn a 17-storey condominium block into a hotel is illegal, having been ordered to halt on 1 April, Bangkok Governor Aswin Kwanmuang said on Facebook last night.Â
He has fired the head of civil affairs for Bang Rak district for neglect over the incident.
Police are hunting for the crane operator, who was reported to have fled the scene, reports news site Coconuts.
Bangkok Governor Aswin Kwanmuang
Six companies thought to be involved in the project had not answered a police summons for questioning as of this morning, said the report.
An administrator for the school said it was the fifth time debris had fallen onto the building from the unlawful project at River Garden Condominium.
The deputy rector of Assumption Cathedral told the Khaosod English newspaper that the church complained to district authorities after previous incidents, but no action was taken.Â
"The officials said if no one was injured or killed, it shouldn’t be a big deal," said deputy rector Winai Ritthiboonchai. "It really upsets me, because the accident happened in an area … with a church and students."
Images published on Facebook by Bangkok Governor Aswin Kwanmuang
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