A ‘signal’ is picked up in the rubble and the call goes out for quiet

Bangkok: The self-imposed deadline for finding survivors in the rubble of the collapsed Bangkok tower has come and gone, and the numbers on the officials’ whiteboard haven’t changed. Eleven dead, 76 missing.

It is 1.30pm on Monday in Thailand’s capital, three days almost to the moment since the under-construction office building crumbled in the tourist hub of Chatuchak when a 7.7-magnitude earthquake rocked the region. But miracles can happen, and the rescue staging area is buzzing.

Shortly before the “golden 72 hours” expired, Thai officials revealed they had just picked up a “signal” and needed the thousands of rescue workers, cooks, volunteers and journalists to be quiet.

The problem confronting the crews here is access. The pile of debris is unstable, and lifting the columns and boulders can bring more of it down.Credit: Getty Images

Bangkok’s Deputy Governor Tavida Kamolvej said it was unclear if it was movement or a heartbeat. Analysts were working on that now. If the man with the megaphone says to be quiet, be quiet.

Earlier on Monday, Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said three signs of life had been detected overnight in Zones A and C of the four-storey-high mound of rubble. Every minute now is precious. Much longer and it can be assumed, if it is not already, that none of the construction workers caught in the collapse, mostly low-skilled migrants from neighbouring Cambodia and Myanmar, are coming out alive.

The rescue target time of three days – 72 hours – is partly arbitrary but also scientific. It is considered the approximate time a human might survive without food and water, if they are lucky.

Rescuers work at the site of an under-construction high-rise building that collapsed on Friday.Credit: AP

The problem confronting the crews here is access. The pile of debris is unstable, and lifting the columns and boulders can bring more of it down, possibly taking rescue workers with it. But the engineers now have a better read on what is strong and what is not. Several daring search and rescue personnel are picking through the top of the mound, having been lowered there by a crane.

If things feel more urgent now, the morning felt flat. The bustle of Saturday and Sunday had gone. A row of ambulances appeared, presumably preparing to take bodies. Four Thai survivors, too distraught to speak, were keeping vigil for their mates trapped across the road.

People were sitting in the rescue staging area. Before, this was to catch rest after hours and hours of work. On Monday morning, it was because there was nothing else to be done. If there was to be a miracle, it would come from the technology and specialist rescue teams.

Signals or not, it still feels unlikely there will be good news. Quite possibly, it will only get worse. The 76 workers unaccounted for takes in only those officially registered at the site. Representatives from Cambodia and Myanmar have said that dozens more unregistered workers might be trapped inside. Either way, the death toll will be horrific.

The epicentre of the earthquake that brought down the 30-storey Chatuchak tower was in war-torn Myanmar, where rescuers freed four people from collapsed buildings on Monday, offering some hope in the race to find more survivors. Among those rescued in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, were a pregnant woman and a girl, China’s Xinhua news agency reported.

The town of Myanaung, near Yangon in Myanmar, escaped Friday’s earthquake but is now wrestling with the news that 10 of its family breadwinners are among the dead and missing in Bangkok.

One of them is a labourer, Aung Khim Zaw. On Sunday, this masthead met his niece and nephew, who were keeping vigil and relaying what little news they could to the families back in Myanaung.

Later that evening, they sent the devastating news that search and rescue teams had discovered their uncle’s body.

K-9 Unit dogs with Thailand’s Rescue Dog Association rest in air-conditioned crates between search and rescue missions at the site of the Bangkok building collapse.Credit: Getty Images

At least 1700 people had been confirmed dead in Myanmar as of Sunday, according to state media, while The Wall Street Journal, citing the ruling military junta, reported the toll had reached 2028.

Across Bangkok, 18 people so far have been confirmed dead, some from when a crane fell at another construction site.

The Chatuchak tower was to be working space for the State Audit Office (SAO), but construction had been so hopelessly delayed that the SAO had considered sacking the builder, according to Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.

The builder is ITD-CREC, a consortium that includes China Railway No. 10 company and construction giant Italian-Thai Development. It is yet to comment.

Industry Minister Akanat Promphan, who has led a crackdown on substandard building materials in his seven months in office, said on Sunday night that he was “taken aback” when he examined some of the collapsed tower’s steel.

“I cannot reveal details at this time … I do not wish to use this as an opportunity to accuse anyone,” he said.

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