Thai beauty queens who took part in a pageant last month could face criminal charges for not wearing masks, police have warned following the emergence of a cluster of 22 infections from the event, reports AFP.

Thirteen contestants and nine others associated with the Miss Grand Samut Sakhon pageant, which was held at a Bangkok venue late June, have tested positive for the virus, officers said.

“There are likely to be many people involved in the pageant including contestants who violated rules and regulations,” Piya Tawichai, deputy commissioner of the metropolitan police told reporters in Bangkok. “People who attended the pageant and did not wear masks [and] also [breached] the emergency decree and diseases control laws,” Piya said.

Organisers had got permission to hold the event, but had to comply with 20 specific rules, including mask wearing, police said.

Organisers and participants in the province-level pageant were being investigated and could face possible criminal charges, the force added.