AMNAT CHAROEN — 28 May 2026, Construction workers at a reservoir weir site fled for safety after a mortar shell reportedly fell from a ready-mix concrete truck during a concrete pour. Workers immediately alerted authorities, who were called in to defuse the explosive. It is believed the shell may have been mixed in with sand dredged from the Mekong River and later used in the ready-mix concrete production process.
On Thursday at Ban Khok Khai in Kai Kham Subdistrict, Mueang District, Amnat Charoen Province, officers from Mueang Amnat Charoen Police Station received reports that a suspicious object resembling a mortar shell had dropped from a concrete mixer truck while concrete was being poured for a water weir construction project.
Police informed their superiors and coordinated with the Amnat Charoen Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit, which was dispatched to inspect the site.
At the scene, police officers and construction workers were waiting as EOD personnel carefully examined the object. Workers had already moved it away from the construction area and covered it with a vehicle tyre. Bomb disposal officers then carried out a cautious operation to render the object safe.
The operation was completed successfully, and the object was confirmed to be a mortar shell. EOD officers subsequently removed it for destruction.
A 69-year-old construction worker at the site, who had moved the explosive, said the object fell from the nearly empty mixer drum while workers were levelling freshly poured concrete. At first, they believed it was a bottle, but after picking it up, they realised it resembled a bomb.
The discovery triggered panic among the workers, who immediately ran from the area. The worker said he then carried the object away from the weir, covered it with a car tyre, and notified authorities.
He added that if the shell had exploded, many workers could have been injured or killed.
