MUEANG SUPHAN BURI, Thailand: Rescue workers on Thursday carried out the grim task of recovering the remains of the 23 apparent victims of an explosion at a fireworks factory in central Thailand.

THE MOURNING AFTER Rescue workers carry the body of a victim from the site of an explosion at a fireworks factory in Suphan Buri province, central Thailand on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. AP PHOTO

Only part of the building frame stood at the site of the devastated factory in an otherwise empty rice field in rural Suphan Buri province the day after the blast.

The damage to the site and the condition of the bodies made the number of victims difficult to determine.

Suphan Buri Deputy Gov. Don Samitakestarin said the death toll was 23 and was not expected to rise further. National police chief Torsak Sukvimol, who traveled to the province to oversee police operations, said 22 bodies had been found and one more person was considered missing but presumed dead.

The cause of the blast has not been determined. Don said it would take time to investigate the cause, as there were no survivors. He added that the area was sealed off as officers were not done clearing hazardous materials.

The factory marketed small fireworks to scare away birds, a common practice for Thai farmers to protect their crops. Its products looked like what are sometimes called cherry bombs, but it did not appear that the factory manufactured fireworks for entertainment, which would be in high demand to celebrate the Lunar New Year next month.

Don said the factory had met the requirements to operate legally. It had an earlier explosion in November 2022 that killed one person and seriously injured three others, but the deputy governor said there was no regulation that could prevent it from obtaining a new permit.

The remains of the victims were taken to Wat Rong Chang, a Buddhist temple in the provincial capital Mueang Suphan Buri, where they were being kept in a refrigerator truck pending confirmation of their identities.

The victims' families and friends gathered at the temple to report about their missing loved ones and provide DNA samples to help identify the remains, but police sought to keep reporters from speaking with them.

The government will pay the maximum compensation of 300,000 baht ($8,400) per affected household, Don said.

The 16 women and seven men presumed to have died in the blast included the workers and the factory owner's wife and son, he added.

An explosion at a fireworks warehouse in southern Thailand last July killed 10 people and wounded more than 100. It also damaged about 100 houses in a 500-meter (1,640-foot) radius of the warehouse in a residential area of Narathiwat province. The governor there said sparks from metal welding work likely ignited the fireworks in the warehouse and caused the explosion. AP