A Bangkok court issued arrest warrants for 17 people over the collapse of a 30-story tower during a March 28 earthquake. The building, meant for the State Audit Office, fell rapidly, raising questions about construction quality. Authorities have recovered 89 bodies and seven remain missing. Charges include building code violations causing death. One identified suspect is Premchai Karnasuta, former president of Italian Thai Development, which is cooperating with investigators.

A court in Thailand issued arrest warrants on Thursday for 17 individuals in connection with the deadly collapse of a skyscraper in Bangkok.

The 30-story tower, which was still under construction and intended to serve as the headquarters for the State Audit Office, was reduced to rubble in a matter of seconds when a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Thailand and neighboring Myanmar on March 28.

Authorities have reported that they have recovered 89 bodies from the debris of the collapsed building, while seven people remain missing.

This tower was the only building in Bangkok to collapse during the earthquake. The suddenness and rapidity of the collapse have raised serious questions regarding the quality of the building’s construction.

Deputy Bangkok Police Chief, Police Major General Somkuan Puengsap, stated that the charges against those involved include violations of building codes that resulted in death, which carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

The authorities continue to investigate the cause of the building’s collapse but have not yet released their findings.

According to police, those charged include executives and engineers from seven different companies that were responsible for designing, constructing, and supervising the construction of the now-collapsed tower.

Among the 17 individuals sought by the police, only one has been publicly identified so far: Premchai Karnasuta, the former president of Italian Thai Development Plc., which is the largest construction company in Thailand.

Italian Thai Development has held meetings with its investors and confirmed that the company is cooperating fully with the ongoing investigation.

It is worth noting that Premchai was previously convicted and sentenced to over three years in prison for poaching protected wildlife species in 2021.

He was caught by rangers at a jungle campsite located within a wildlife sanctuary, where carcasses of protected animals, including a black Indochinese leopard, were found.