A worker was killed when an oxygen cylinder exploded at a two-storey house being used for an oxygen distribution business in Nong Khaem district of Bangkok on Thursday.
The incident happened at the Phetkasem 1 housing estate on Phetkasem 77 Road at about 11am.
Rescue workers rushed to the scene and found a severely injured worker aged 30, with the lower part of his body and two arms torn away by the blast.
Sakaoduean Phutthamma, a rescue worker from the Ruamkatanyu Foundation, said the man remained conscious and breathed for a short while before succumbing to his injuries.
The homeowner, who identified himself only as Chaiwat, said he stored empty oxygen gas cylinders at home and normally had them refilled elsewhere before delivering them to factories. He said he neither assembled nor modified the cylinders on the site.
He said the explosion happened while his lone employee was loading a cylinder onto a pickup truck. Normally, it is nearly impossible for an empty cylinder to burst, he said, adding he had no idea how the blast could have occurred.
Rescue worker Mana Kenpak quoted an eyewitness as saying that the cylinder exploded when it hit the ground while being handled near the pickup.
A neighbour said the owner of the house had been in the oxygen cylinder business for about a decade, and that the explosion sent an impact to nearby houses.