The height of the rubble at the collapsed State Audit Office (SAO) tower in Bangkok has been reduced to a level where rescuers could soon start finding more bodies of missing construction workers.
Suriyachai Rawiwan, director of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's (BMA) disaster prevention and mitigation office, gave a briefing on the progress on Wednesday.
On average, the height of the debris had been lowered by about one metre, Mr Suriyachai said.
The rubble in Zone A and Zone D of the collapsed building was now down to 9.35 metres, from 9.78 metres, and the rubble pile in Zone B and Zone C to 7.41 metres, down from 8.58 metres.
At these levels, rescue teams would reach the surface of the first floor of the 30-storey building in Chatuchak district by the end of this month.
Heavy machinery would be used to clear the debris in the basement of the building, which was about 40x40x40 metres. Concrete piles would be cleared and the work would be quickly finished, he said.
There were about 30 backhoes being used to and excavate the site. Drivers from the BMA, private firms and the military took turns operating them, he said.
Rescuers found two more bodies on the stairway of the collapsed building around 10am on Wednesday.
The confirmed death toll has now risen to 53, with 9 injured survivors and 41 people still missing, as of 10am on Wednesday.
The unfinished State Audit Office tower collapsed without any warning at all during the March 28 earthquake.