27 Burmese injured in gas explosion at Thai seafood factory
Yesterday a gas explosion at the Andaman Seafood Company factory in Ranong, Southern Thailand, injured 27 Burmese migrant workers and two Thai workers.
A woman Burmese translator at Ranong Hospital said women workers wounded in the explosion were sent to the hospital in Ranong on the Thai Burma border – three of the woman is still receiving treatment at the hospital.
“There were 14 women workers from Burma who were sent here to the Ranong Hospital. Those with slight injuries were allowed to go home after their wounds were dressed and they were given medicine. Three of the women who had more serious injuries were kept in the hospital for further treatment. Luckily we haven’t heard of any deaths.”
It is estimated that there are as many as 3,000 workers at the Andaman Seafood Company factory, most of them are migrant workers from Burma and the majority of those are from the southern Burmese town of Dawei.
Burmese migrant workers at the factory, claim this is the third explosion at Andaman Seafoods.
Ma Mi Nanda, a local migrant teacher in Ranong said that majority of the injured in yesterday’s explosion were women.
“The explosion occurred at the spot where women are working. Most of them are from Burma. There were a few Thai workers injured. Those who got injured can’t work now. We don’t know what the Company plans to do for them.”
Burmese migrant workers at Andaman Seafood and other factories in Ranong work from 7 am to 5 pm and are paid 200 baht a day with 20 to 50 baht an hour when they work overtime.
