Four children among seven dead after school roof collapses in Thailand storm

The children had taken shelter inside the activity centre when the storm hit

Thai rescue workers at the scene of a collapsed metal roof on a structure at the Wat Nern Por primary school in Phichit, Thailand (Associated Press)

At least seven people, including four children, were killed in Thailand after a heavy storm caused a metal roof to collapse on a school’s activity centre, officials said on Tuesday.

One of the victims was a six-year-old boy at the Wat Nern Por primary school in Phichit province who died of his injuries after the incident on Monday, local officials from the Disaster Prevention Department and Public Relations office said.

The children, aged between six and 13, had gone inside the activity centre in the northern Thailand’s district school to take shelter from the rain, the office said in Facebook posts

At least 18 people were taken to the hospital after the mishap due to heavy rains.

The deceased included four boys, two parents, and one member of the school’s cleaning staff, Patcharin Siri from the provincial public relations department said.

“All the houses have been damaged by the storm but this arena just completely collapsed,” local mayor Kannika Intarakul told the ThaiPBS broadcasting service.

The storm struck the region at about 6.30pm local time, the local media reported, adding that heavy rain and high winds caused the roof to suddenly collapse.

A witness at the spot told the broadcaster that they heard a “sound just like in a war zone and in a span of five seconds, the storm reached me”.

This comes after Thailand’s Meteorological Department flagged a warning for heavy rain in the northern part of the country this week.

Monday was also the official start of the rainy season.

The officials have forecasted further adverse weather across much of northern and central Thailand over the coming days.

On Tuesday, the Meteorological Department forecast isolated heavy rainfall and thunderstorms across the region through at least 29 May.

Gusty winds, lightning, and hail are possible during thunderstorms, the officials have warned. They added that strong winds could fell trees and power lines as well as cause damage to unsecured infrastructure.

Flooding and landslides are possible in areas where thunderstorms produce intense rainfall, the Met department said.