By AP and published by Msn.com
A CONSTRUCTION magnate, builders, designers and engineers surrendered to police today (May 16) on criminal negligence charges for the deadly collapse of State Audit high-rise in the March 28 earthquake that hit Myanmar.
Premchai Karnasuta, the president of Italian-Thai Development Plc, the main Thai contractor for the building project, as well as designers and engineers were among 17 charged with the felony of professional negligence causing death, Pol. Maj. Gen. Noppasin Poonsawat, deputy chief of Metropolitan Police Bureau, said.
Pol. Maj. Gen. Noppasin said those who met police today formally denied the charges. Several have previously issued public denials in response to allegations in the media.
Ninety-two people were confirmed dead in the rubble of the building that had been under construction and a small number of other people remain unaccounted for. The building, which was to become a new State Audit Office, was the only one in Thailand to collapse in the earthquake that was centred in neighbouring Myanmar. The search for victims at the site has been halted, though efforts to identify remains through DNA will continue.
Pol. Maj. Gen.Noppasin said at a news conference that evidence and testimony from experts suggested the building plan did not meet standards and codes.
Thai media have reported allegations of wrongdoing in the project almost every day since the building’s collapse, many of them involving irregular documentation for the project. Their reports have highlighted the role of Italian-Thai’s Chinese joint venture partner, the China Railway No. 10 company, which is involved in projects around the world.
One of the 17 charged today was Chinese executive Zhang Chuanling, a director at China Railway No. 10’s joint venture with Italian-Thai Development. He was previously arrested last month on a charge of violating Thai business law by wrongly using Thai nominees to serve as the Chinese firm’s proxies to allegedly control the joint venture. Three Thai executives were also arrested on the charge.
A Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for the 17 on the negligence charge on Thursday. Pol. Maj. Gen. Noppasin said 15 turned themselves in at a police station in the morning and the remaining two were expected to do so later today.
The epicenter of the quake was in central Myanmar, where it killed more than 3,700 people and caused major damage in Mandalay, the country’s second biggest city, and the capital Naypyitaw.
Premchai’s case is his second major tangle with the law. In 2019, he was convicted of wildlife poaching and served two and half years in prison.
He was found guilty of killing protected animals and illegal possession of weapons after park rangers found a hunting party at a wildlife sanctuary in 2018 with carcasses of a rare black panther, a kalij pheasant and a barking deer. The panther had been butchered and its meat cooked for soup.
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Top and Front Page: President of Italian-Thai Development Plc Premchai Karnasuta arriving at the police station. Photos: AP/ Sakchai Lalit and published by Msn.com
Insert: Rubble of the collapsed State Audit building. File photo: AP and published by Msn.com
Video shared by Skyboyz on X.com showing Italian-Thai Development Plc boss Premchai Karnasuta arriving for questioning:
https://x.com/Skyboyz15/status/1923191778347294930
Also read: DSI accepts building collapse as special case
Boss of Chinese company in joint venture that built collapsed building arrested
Collapsed building’s Chinese contractor, steel supplier linked to 37-company network
Construction tycoon jailed in black panther case likely to be freed today
No privileges for tycoon-turned-inmate behind bars: Justice minister
Tycoon jailed for 2 years and 6 months in poaching case
Construction tycoon-turned-black-panther hunter released on parole
