Furnace Explosion at Thai Recycling Plant Kills 1, Injures 1

A worker died and another was injured by an explosion in a blast furnace Saturday at a recycling plant in central Thailand.

At about 11:30 a.m., emergency personnel in the Phra Samut Chedi district of Samut Prakan Province responded to a fire at a recycling business that melts plastic waste and refined the basic hydrocarbons. The fire was spread by an explosion in a blast furnace that ejected heated metal and plastics, local media report.

Firefighters were able to bring the fire under control in about an hour.

Thanasak Wong Surin, 28, suffered extensive burns and later died at a hospital. A second worker, Pat Thanaphon Korphonphet, 25, was hit in the back with molten plastic and also required hospitalization.

The two workers were occupied with a waste grinder next to the blast furnace when the explosion occurred.