Thailand ends search at site of skyscraper that collapsed during quake

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand has declared an end to search operation at the site of a partially constructed Bangkok skyscraper that collapsed during a March 28 earthquake and killed scores of construction workers, the city's governor said on Tuesday.

The 30-storey State Audit Office tower was the only building in the Thai capital that collapsed from the tremors caused by a 7.7 magnitude quake that struck central Myanmar about 1,020 km (635 miles) away.

An investigation is underway into why the building came down so easily while those in the rest of the city stood firm.

Earthquakes and tremors of that scale are extremely rare in Thailand and the quake sparked panic in the city, which ground to a halt for most of the day.

Authorities have recovered 89 bodies from the rubble and seven are still missing from one of the deadliest accidents of its kind in Thailand, which killed 96 people. In Myanmar, more than 3,700 people died.

The six-week operation in Bangkok involved hundreds of personnel, including international rescue teams in an around-the-clock effort during which search dogs and heavy equipment were deployed. The mission was severely hampered by the scale and weight of the debris.

"I want to thank all those who helped," Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittupunt told reporters. "This was a life changing incident for many and a lesson."

Authorities have so far been identified 86 of the dead, while forensic tests are being conducted on 100 out of 313 fragments of human remains recovered from the site, according to police.

The probe is focusing on those involved in the construction of the building, which started in 2020.

A Thai anti-corruption watchdog said it had flagged to authorities irregularities it found in the construction of the skyscraper before it collapsed, while industry officials said initial tests of materials at the site indicated the presence of substandard steel.

(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat and Panu Wongcha-um; Editing by Martin Petty)

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