Chemical accident at Bangkok bank kills eight

Eight people have lost their lives due to a chemical accident in the basement of a bank in Thai capital Bangkok, according to officials.

According to report, contractors were working in a fire safety system at the headquarters of the Siam Commercial bank on Sunday night, when they appear to have asphyxiated after a gas mixture that uses up Oxygen was released.

A bank statement adds that another seven were injured in the incident, which may have been caused by contractors' “negligence”.

According to the statement, the incident occurs at around 21:30 local time on Sunday, and the aerosol system called pyrogen was "inadvertently activated and exhausted all the oxygen in the area" as contractors were working on it.

The BBC adds that pyrogen involves a mixture of gases including potassium carbonates, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide and ammonia, that remove all oxygen from the air to stifle a fire.

According to reports, firemen also encountered delays as they tried to reach the victims due to tightly locked doors.