SAMUT PRAKAN: The huge fire that gutted the Summit Footwear shoe factory in Bang Phli district on Tuesday night is believed to have been caused by an electrical short-circuit.
The factory, which makes Aerosoft footware, is on the outbound side of Theparat (Bang Na - Trat) Highway in tambon Bang Chalong, and the blaze started about 5.30pm as hundreds of workers were ending their shift. They escaped through the fire exits.
Dozens of fire engines were deployed to fight the blaze believed to have begun on the ground floor of the five-storey building.
Police closed the frontage road as firefighters battled the raging flames that shot up through the building.
Fire crews took more than five hours to control the blaze. The blackened building was left with large cracks in its walls. Damage was initially estimated at 20 million baht.
According to the Industry Ministry, officials blamed the fire on an electrical short-circuit, and no hazardous chemicals were burnt.
On Wednesday morning police still closed the outbound frontage road of Bang Na - Trat Highway in front of the Summit Footwear plant, where firefighters were still dousing the crackling flames among the ruins. The road closure resulted in kilometres-long traffic congestion on the outbound frontage road.
The frontage road of Bang Na - Trat Highway remains closed in front of Summit Footwear Co in Bang Phli district, Samut Prakan, on Wednesday morning. (Photo: Sutthiwit Chayutworakan)