ENGINEERS from Colchester were caught up the bomb attack in Bangkok.

Shaun Melarkey, 21, and Andy Dennis, 41, from Colchester-based Sportsafe UK were undertaking safety inspections at three international schools.

Sportsafe UK’s head office learned about the blast on Monday through social media and desperately tried to contact the workers.

The engineers were around 2.5 miles from the explosion at the Erawan shrine and are safe and well.

They heard the blast, which killed 20 people, and experienced the fallout from the outrage.

The pair, who arrived in Thailand on Saturday night, were on the way to start work when the explosion happened.

Sportsafe UK contacted the engineers, the Home Office and the three schools to check on their welfare and ensure the team was all right.

The company has arranged a 24-hour exit strategy for the team, in case there are any further problems in Bangkok.

Sales manager Gerald Buck said: “As soon as we saw the news, there wasastrange wave of realisation in the office that this random terror act could hurt our team.

“Normally, these horrible acts seem miles from home, but the worry in the office was very real.

“As soon as we saw the news, we immediately tried to contact our engineers to check they were all right.”

Sportsafe said it will continue to monitor the situation in Bangkok to ensure the safety of their team.

The Thai Government has said the bombing is “unlikely” to have been the work of an international terrorist group, but that the main suspect was a foreign national.

Police have said at least ten people are suspected of being involved in the attack.