A massive fire broke on Sunday at a bar in Bangkok, Thailand, killing at least 27 people and dozens more injured — including at least 22 in critical condition.
The fire, extinguished during the early morning hours of Monday (local time), is reportedly being investigated by local police officers as a possible case of negligence — with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul stating to reporters that many of the victims found themselves “trapped” near the venue’s bathrooms.
International outlets identified the bar as the Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao pub, located in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district. The BBC, citing eyewitnesses’ testimonies, reports that the fire broke near the bar’s stage, rapidly spreading and engulfing the building with smoke.
Firefighters were reportedly able to put the fires down in about thirty minutes after arriving to the scene.
In total, the BBC detailed, the fires left 27 dead — nine men and 18 women killed. More than 60 individuals are receiving medical treatment, of which 22 were deemed to be in critical condition according to local authorities.
Footage shared by outlets on social media show panicked individuals fleeing from the locale as a massive blaze blasts out from the bar’s door.
Suriyachai Raviwan, the head of Bangkok’s disaster mitigation department, detailed that initial findings suggest that the majority of the victims died from smoke inhalation. The BBC Noted that such suggestions can only be confirmed by subsequent forensic investigations.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul visited the site of the accident shortly after the fires were put out. Speaking to reporters, the Prime Minister said confirmed that 27 dead bodies had so far been retrieved, while survivors were sent to hospitals for medical treatment.
Charnvirakul noted that many of the dead bodies were found near the bar’s bathrooms .
“I asked one musician that happened to be on the stage when the incident took place. He said that there was a fire at the cutout switch. and after that things happened very quickly,” Charnvirakul told reporters. “And there was blasting, and everybody tried to flee themselves from the smokes and the flame.”
“So, many of them were not able to make their way out because they went to the back of the building, trying to hide themselves away from the smokes, the flames, in the toilet, and that’s where we found most of the bodies,” he continued.
Per Reuters, preliminary investigations suggest that the deadly fire could have been caused by an electrical short in a ceiling air conditioner, but no official cause has been given as of Monday morning. Police officers reportedly stated that 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.
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