Thailand Pub Fire Kills 27
An explosive fire at a pub in Thailand’s capital Bangkok killed 27 people and injured dozens, officials said today Monday, with police investigating possible negligence including obstructed emergency exits as people scrambled to flee the burning venue.
One video of the incident posted on social media and verified by Reuters showed thick smoke billowing out of the Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao pub, before an intense horizontal plume of fire jets out of a doorway, as screaming customers fled the premises around midnight (1700 GMT) on Sunday.
“Most of the victims ran to the back of the building, into the bathroom, and there was no clear sign of a fire exit,” said Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who visited the site early on Monday.
Suriyachai Rawiwan, director of Bangkok’s disaster prevention and mitigation department, said 63 people were injured, 22 critically.
The pub is located in a busy intersection in northern Bangkok, connected by its urban rail systems and adjacent to two shopping malls, within walking distance of cinemas, large parks and the Chatuchak weekend market.
“Most of the victims ran to the back of the building, into the bathroom, and there was no clear sign of a fire exit,” said Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who visited the site early on Monday.
Suriyachai Rawiwan, director of Bangkok’s disaster prevention and mitigation department, said 63 people were injured, 22 critically.
The pub is located in a busy intersection in northern Bangkok, connected by its urban rail systems and adjacent to two shopping malls, within walking distance of cinemas, large parks and the Chatuchak weekend market that is popular in the daytime with foreign tourists.
The area has a number of bars with live music that are typically crowded on weekend nights.
The city’s disaster administration said its initial assessment was that an electrical short circuit in a ceiling air conditioner may have caused the fire, while police said there may have been issues with fire exits, overloaded wiring and use of flammable materials in renovations to enhance sound.
“At this time, police have established negligence as the primary theory guiding their investigation,” National Police chief Kittiratt Phanphet told reporters.
‘SMOKE WAS EVERYWHERE’
Firefighter Chakrit Khongkom, 45, said he arrived on the first fire truck to see the pub alight and many patrons stranded inside, several trying to escape from the back of the venue. The few people coming through the front of the venue were burnt.
“The smoke was everywhere,” he said. “Most of the survivors were choking on smoke.”
Body-camera footage from an emergency worker seen by Reuters showed firefighters in oxygen masks moving through the darkened remains of the pub with torches as they searched for survivors and victims.
Several victims could be seen lying prone on the floor near the pub’s toilets while rescue workers carried in stretchers.
“We sent in a rescue and search squad and found that a lot of people were inside the toilet. Most of them were trying to escape to the back because they saw that the flame was at the front,” said Chakrit./REUTERS
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