14 Missing in Blasts at Thai Arms Depot

Large explosions rocked a Thai army arsenal stocked with rockets and ammunition Thursday, leaving 14 people missing and presumed dead, injuring at least 85 others and forcing the evacuation of a nearby town.

The blasts began when volatile outdated artillery shells and other munitions detonated as they were being transported from a warehouse to another spot for disposal, army commander Gen. Surayud Chulanont told a news conference.

He said seven soldiers and five security guards at the site were missing, but he could not confirm their deaths. Continuing explosions at the scene made it too dangerous to approach, he said.

The explosions continued 10 hours after the first blast at 9 a.m. at the 395-acre arsenal in Pak Chong district, about 95 miles from the capital, Bangkok.

Witnesses saw flames shoot about 300 feet above the depot and felt the blasts several miles away.

More than 10,000 residents of Pak Chong, a town about five miles from the camp, were evacuated.

An official at one hospital said by telephone that 10 soldiers and 51 civilians had been brought there for treatment. Most suffered cuts from flying glass.

Interior Minister Purachai Piumsombun told reporters that the blasts were an accident.