Around 20 people were killed in Thailand in an explosion on Wednesday at a firework factory north of Bangkok, police said, as authorities inspected the site but were yet to find survivors.
It was not immediately clear what caused the incident, which took place mid-afternoon in Suphan Buri province about 120 km north of Bangkok, police said.
"We cannot tell whether all the workers were killed. The officials are entering the site to investigate. They have not found any survivors," Provincial governor, Nattapat Suwanprateep, told Reuters.
A preliminary investigation put the death toll at 20, according to a police statement, with many injured.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin was briefed on the explosion while at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and urged a swift investigation.
"The prime minister ordered an inspection of the plant to see if it was operating legally and if the explosion was caused by negligence. The law must be enforced to the fullest extent because there are innocent deaths and injuries," Srettha's office said.
South Korea and the United States will cut short annual joint military drills to five days from 11 and scale back some field training, the allies said on Wednesday, after President Donald Trump ordered a substantial reduction in US participation.
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An Israeli airstrike killed nine Palestinians at a police station in Gaza on Wednesday, medics said, two days after US envoy Jared Kushner ended a trip to the region that failed to push forward Donald Trump's plan to end the war in the enclave.
Thai schools conducted active shooter drills on Wednesday, as authorities moved to strengthen security measures two weeks after a 14-year-old opened fire at a school and killed at least eight people.