Authorities have charged two men with negligence leading to a fire at a long-closed garbage dump which has burned for three days.
Since Sunday, the landfill in Samut Prakarn province has been burning, releasing a toxic cloud of smoke over the surrounding area, which includes east Bangkok. Thousands of residents have been evacuated.
Bhrompol Samutsakorn and Surapong Tangdenchai, identified as the operators by police, facilitated illegal dumping at the site which included toxic materials long after the site was closed about 10 years ago.
Authorities said they sought to stop the site’s use late last year and even put up a fence around it to stop its use, but operations continued, Bangkok Post reported.
Photo: Pom Prakan
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