Seven Thai workers were killed and 19 injured when they tried to dismantle a Second World War bomb with a blowtorch.

The device was discovered by builders on a construction site in northern Bangkok’s Lad Plakao neighbourhood, Thailand.

Believing that it had lost its charge, they sold it to men working in a scrap metal warehouse.

The metal workers then began to take the 500lb bomb apart to sell the metal on. The blowtorch caused the bomb to go off, destroying the shop and creating a large crater. It also damaged dozens of adjacent houses and started a large fire.

Police said that five people died at the scene.

Police bomb squad chief Kamthorn Auicharoen said that it was ‘likely this is a bomb dropped from a plane during World War II’.

:  Անկախ