Old bomb explodes in Bangkok scrap shop, killing 7

A World War II bomb is seen in Szekesfehervar, about 60 km west from the Hungarian capital Budapest on July 18, 2013 as the police began evacuating around 10,000 people in the central city of Szekesfehervar after the bomb was discovered next to a kindergarten. AFP FILE PHOTO/NORBERT NAGY/FMH/HUNGARY OUT

BANGKOK, Thailand—Police say workers at a scrap shop in Thailand’s capital accidentally detonated a large bomb believed to have been dropped during World War II, killing at least seven people and injuring 19 others.

Police bomb squad chief Kamthorn Auicharoen says construction workers found the bomb buried at a building site and sold it to the scrap shop in northern Bangkok.

He said workers at the shop were using a blowtorch to take the bomb apart when it exploded Wednesday.

The massive blast ripped apart the scrap shop in Bangkok’s Lad Plakao neighborhood and damaged nearby houses.

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