An autopsy was to be carried out on a Burmese worker who leaped to his death at a steel plant southeast of Bangkok, where hundreds of Thai and Burmese have been sequestered due to the coronavirus.
Nearly 30 people have been infected with COVID-19 since last week at the factory in Thailand’s Samut Prakan province, according to labor activist Min Oo, who said Saturday’s suicide occurred after about 200 workers were barred from leaving their apartments.
“Since last week, five workers tested positive among 500, and when they traced their contacts, 200 were detained in quarantine in their apartments,” said Min Oo of the Education and Development Foundation. “One of the victims was believed to have jumped from the 4th floor and committed suicide. The apartment where the staff was kept was locked down,” he said.
According to Samut Prakan police Capt. Suwit Phudonnang, the victim was a 43-year-old Burmese man.
“I pray everyday. I wouldn’t dare to go anywhere right now. The daily death toll is above 15 every day here,” Thidar, another Burmese residing in Samut Prakan, told Coconuts.
In Thailand, the second wave of infections ignited late last year among migrant Burmese laborers mostly working in seafood factories southwest of Bangkok in Samut Sakhon province. The third wave emerged in March and spread through the capital’s nightlife establishments.
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