BANGKOK: An explosion near Bangkok’s international airport Monday left a plastics factory in flames, killing at least one firefighter and wounding 33 people as rescue workers struggled to extinguish the blaze hours later.

Heavy plumes of black smoke could be seen rising to the sky from the city’s downtown 35 kilometres (21 miles) away, and by early evening the dark clouds had shrouded the Thai capital. The blast occurred around 3 am at Taiwan-owned Ming Dih Chemical Co., located on the outskirts of Bangkok near Suvarnabhumi Airport in Samut Prakan province.