Death Toll in Hotel Collapse Expected to Go Over 100 : Thailand: 24 bodies retrieved so far. Officials say as many as 500 people may still be trapped in the wreckage.

More than 100 people are believed to have been killed when a seven-story hotel collapsed in north central Thailand on Friday, police and rescue workers said.

An official at a private emergency foundation said 24 bodies had been retrieved from the site of the Royal Plaza Hotel in Nakhon Ratchasima, 150 miles northeast of Bangkok.

“There are so many dead bodies we can see, but we are concentrating our efforts on helping the living,” Police Sgt. Suwat Pongsuwan said.

Hospital personnel listed two foreign women among the dead, one from England, one from Japan. Provincial officials listed only the British woman. A white man wearing U.S. Air Force fatigues was also among the dead at Korat’s Maharat Hospital.

The building was a two-story structure to which four additional stories had been added, officials said. An additional floor was being put on when the building collapsed.

“There were people on each floor when it happened, and they are now either trapped or buried in debris,” said Pornchai Chitsuwansin, a spokesman for the Ruam Katanyu Foundation.

“The gas smell and the fear of triggering further collapse have slowed rescue workers as they try to do their job,” he said.

“We expect the death toll to rise, definitely past the 100 figure tonight,” he said. “There are so many people trapped in what is reduced to a 1 1/2-story structure from an original seven-story building.”

More than 200 injured people were taken to one hospital, a spokeswoman said. Other hospitals were also treating the injured.

Police estimates of the number of people trapped ranged up to 500.

Police said the hotel collapsed as staff members were preparing lunch for more than 200 teachers and school administrators attending a seminar.

More than 60 employees of the Shell Oil Co. were also attending a meeting in the hotel.