Officials of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) have inspected over 44,000 fire extinguishers in the past week to enhance public safety, BMA Deputy Governor Tavida Kamolvej said on Thursday.

The BMA had launched a campaign last Thursday to review the condition of fire extinguishers throughout Bangkok following an explosion at Rajavinit Mathayom School in Bangkok’s Dusit district last month that killed one student and injured more than 20.

Tavida said that of the 44,160 canisters inspected, 19,657 were found to be defective and sent to the Environment Department to be disposed of. Fire extinguishers that passed the inspection are identified by a QR code that city officials have put on them so that people can check when it was last inspected.

“There are about 30,000 more canisters scattered around Bangkok communities that have yet to be inspected,” she said. “After inspection, officials will register the fire extinguishers on the database, which offers information such as type of extinguishers, date of manufacture, last inspection and maintenance, and locations.”

This database will also help the city decide which areas were at greater risk of fire hazard due to fewer fire extinguishers per number of households, she said

Inspection of fire extinguishers will henceforth be done every year by the district office with the help of disaster prevention volunteers and community leaders, Tavida added.

Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said: “What happened at Rajavinit School is a tragedy, so we need to take a proactive approach for canisters scattered around Bangkok communities. Local officials have also been told to check other fire safety equipment in their responsible areas, including fire hydrants and fire exits.”

The governor also told community leaders not to worry about the quality of the fire extinguishers to be delivered by the BMA, as it has only recently purchased 10,000 new canisters to replace damaged ones.