Thai building collapse death toll rises to 14

Thai rescue workers and soldiers continue their search at the site of a six-story building collapse in Pathum Thani province, just north of Bangkok, Thailand Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2014. The building under construction on the outskirts of Thailand’s capital collapsed Monday, killing three workers and trapping at least seven others underneath the rubble, police said. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)

BANGKOK— The death toll from the collapse of a six-story building under construction on the outskirts of Thailand’s capital has risen to 14, as rescue teams ended their search Friday, four days after the cave-in, police said.

Rescue teams found four more bodies of construction workers under the building near a vocational college in Pathum Thani province after the collapse on Monday, police Maj. Gen. Smithi Mookdasanit said.

“The area has been cleared out and there are no more bodies or workers trapped underneath,” he said, adding the dead included 11 men and three women.

Smithi said there were about 30 to 40 workers in the area at the time of the collapse and more than 20 people were rescued from the site.

Police were investigating the cause of the collapse and have arrested four people, including the site engineer, who will face criminal charges.

Pathum Thani is on the northern outskirts of Bangkok.

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