A Bangkok temple began demolishing its crematorium after it started cracking early this month due to heavy use during the Covid-19 epidemic.
Heavy machine was deployed on Friday to demolish the 25-year-old crematorium at Wat Bang Nam Chon in Thon Buri district, Bangkok.
Phra Khru Patra Woranusit, assistant abbot of the temple, said a new crematorium would be built to replace it after the base of the incinerator developed cracks.
When the pandemic began last year, an average of 1-2 bodies were cremated at the temple a day. They were corpses of people infected by Covid-19 and other people, said the assistant abbot.
As the outbreak spread in April, the number rose to 3-4 bodies a day. By early July, the base of the incinerator developed cracks and pieces of broken tiles from the chimney on some residents living near the temple, said the senior monk.
The temple later invited a team of engineers to inspect the crematorium following the injuries of people.
The engineers found that the crematorium could not be repaired as it had been used for many years. They suggested the temple rebuild it.
The assistant abbot said the demolition work began on Friday and construction of a new crematorium would take about two months.
There were a record 14,575 new Covid-19 cases and 114 more fatalities on Thursday, the Public Health Ministry reported on Friday morning.
Bangkok logged the highest number of new fatalities at 49 ,and the highest number of new infections at 3,104 cases.