CHIANG MAI: A part of a historic wall in this northern city has crumbled after the soil surrounding the wall's base absorbed heavy rainfall for several days, and meteorologists are predicting further storms to sweep across the city tomorrow.
A 10-metre-long section at Chang Phueak Gate at the moat in Muang district collapsed yesterday.
Mayor of Chiang Mai municipality Assanee Buranupakorn said the incident occurred around 8am, although no one was injured.
Therdsak Yenjura, the director of the archaeological conservation office of the 7th Regional Office of Fine Arts Department, attributed the cause to soil that absorbed too much water from rainfall.
The collapsed sector was built in 1957 to replace an earlier outer part of the ancient wall that surrounded the central area of the city. Workers were checking the walls by all the ancient gates to ensure public safety.
Rain has blanketed the northern province recently and the Meteorological Department has issued a storm alert for most parts of the country between Tuesday and Thursday as Super Typhoon Noru is expected to reach the Vietnamese coast during the period.
Its landfall in Vietnam would send rain, gusty winds and some downpours into provinces in the northern, northeastern, central and eastern regions, the Meteorological Department warned.
The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department said yesterday about 52 provinces, most of them in the northern and northeastern regions, would be affected by the impact of the powerful typhoon and flash floods and runoff are a risk.
Many provinces were already affected by flooding due to unusually persistent, heavy rain this year.
The typhoon was expected to arrive on Luzon island in the Philippines late yesterday.