A motorcyclist died on Monday after falling into a drainage system inside the Mahai Sawan underpass in Bangkok's Thon Buri district on Sunday, according to local police.
Pol Col Chatthakit Padungjandanai, superintendent of Bukkhalo police, said Wanlop Homjampa, 29, a native of Ubon Ratchathani, was driving his motorcycle at high speed when it skidded inside the underpass. This sent the man careening for several metres before he ended up inside a drainage opening.
The drain was left open after the lid was stolen, and it had not been replaced. The severely injured motorcycle driver was admitted to Taksin Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries and died later.
The theft of the drainage lid has been formally reported to the police by the Thon Buri district office.
The incident came less than a week after a man fell into a poorly covered 15-metre-deep tube well on a road divider and died in Lat Phrao district, sparking a public outcry over the lack of sufficient safety measures on the part of City Hall and relevant agencies.
Meanwhile, Samart Ratchapolsitte, a former Bangkok deputy governor, took to his Facebook account to propose four suggestions to prevent similar incidents.
He suggested conducting a comprehensive survey citywide on every tube well lid and immediately repairing broken ones before the rainy season. If needed, the lids must be replaced urgently, and clear signs must be put up to warn pedestrians of a missing lid.
During the construction or repair of a tube well, authorities must ensure that the builder keeps pedestrians well away from the construction site or installs a temporary lid. The site must also be clearly lit.
Contractors who fail to implement adequate safety measures must be subject to heavy punishment, he added.
In related news, a sinkhole emerged along Chaiyaphruek Road in Nonthaburi on Sunday.
The three-metre-deep sinkhole was found near the U-turn under Rama IV Bridge in Nonthaburi’s Pak Kret district.
Workers from the Metropolitan Electricity Authority and the Rural Road Department finished the temporary road surface repair of the sinkhole at 1.30am on Monday. Permanent repairs will follow. The police said the hole is believed to have been caused by the subsidence of an underground sand layer, possibly linked to the nearby construction of the wiring system under the Chao Phraya River.