Thai police arrested four Chinese nationals on Sunday for illegally entering the site of a collapsed building that was under construction in Chatuchak District. The structure had crumbled following a powerful earthquake last week. Authorities stated that the men were attempting to retrieve documents from the site.

A Chinese-backed construction company is under investigation for the collapse of the 30-story high-rise, which was still being built when a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar on Friday. The building collapsed within seconds, sending a massive cloud of dust into the air and trapping many people under the debris. Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, Major General Nopasin Poolswat, confirmed that the four Chinese men were caught illegally removing 32 files of documents from the back of the collapsed State Audit Office (SAO) building without authorisation, as reported by National Thailand.

Following the powerful earthquake, the Governor of Bangkok declared the building site collapse a disaster zone, restricting access to authorised personnel only. However, on Saturday, police received reports that some individuals were seen removing documents from the area. Upon investigating, officers found a Chinese man near the site, who identified himself as the project manager for a construction project. Further inquiries confirmed that he had a valid work permit and worked for a company involved in a joint venture with Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited, the contractor responsible for the building under construction.

Police also discovered three other men at the scene and seized 32 documents. According to a report by the National Thailand, these papers contained various types of information.

Four Chinese workers claimed they were subcontractors working for Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited. They explained that they had entered the restricted area to retrieve important documents stored in a container that served as a temporary office. These documents were needed for an insurance claim. After questioning, the police initially released them. However, later on Sunday, officials from the Chatuchak District Office filed a complaint against five Chinese nationals for violating public order by entering the restricted site and taking blueprints and other documents from the collapsed SAO building.

As a result, police are moving forward with legal action against the four subcontractors. Meanwhile, their employer, the fifth individual, is under investigation, and further steps will be taken.

As of Sunday, news agency AFP reported that 17 people have been confirmed dead, 32 injured, and 76 still missing, most of them construction workers from the collapsed building site. Search and rescue teams are working tirelessly in extreme heat to find any survivors.

Although Bangkok has many high-rise buildings under construction, none have suffered similar damage. This has raised concerns among experts and officials about the structural integrity of the collapsed building. The structure, which belonged to Thailand’s State Audit Office (SAO), had been under construction for three years, with an estimated cost of over two billion baht (approximately 45 million pounds).