More than two dozen people were killed when a fire broke out at a bar in Bangkok late Sunday night, spreading quickly and apparently sending many patrons fleeing toward the bathrooms at the back of the venue, where they died. Dozens of others were injured.
The blaze broke out while a band was playing at the venue. Atipat Wijan, a producer and member of the Totsakan Band, said he was near the stage when he first smelled something burning. He was not alarmed, thinking it was a breaker that might have tripped.
But then he saw smoke near the performers, which included his girlfriend, a singer in the band. Within moments, he said, there were flames.
“I tried to go back to get my girlfriend, but the fire was too strong,” Mr. Atipat said, his voice cracking. Then came a massive blast that knocked him to the ground.
“When the explosion went off, I didn’t see anyone running out,” he said. “People just lay on the floor, screaming for help. I couldn’t do much. I didn’t see any sprinklers going off to stop the fire.”
Videos posted on social media showed people rushing out of the bar, called Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao, as the fire engulfed it. The initial details offered by officials were similar to the account from Mr. Atipat, who said he had spoken with emergency medical workers.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul visited the scene, in the Lat Phrao district in northern Bangkok, the Thai capital, early on Monday and spoke to reporters.
“Smoke filled the air, and people ran. Most of the victims ran into the restrooms at the back of the building, which didn’t have clear fire escape doors,” he said, noting that this was based on an initial assessment.
Two of the musicians — including Mr. Atipat’s girlfriend — were among at least 27 victims of the fire. No other details, including the cause of death, were immediately available about the victims. A forensics team had arrived on the scene to begin an investigation.
The location of the victims’ bodies has raised questions about the venue’s layout and its safety precautions. Bangkok’s governor, Chadchart Sittipunt, said that there may have been a table blocking one of the fire exits.
He said there would be an inquiry into the venue’s compliance with legal requirements, including permitting, and said that the owner was apparently among those injured in the blaze. Mr. Chadchart said a contact center would be established for the victims and their relatives.
Mr. Chadchart said that, based on plastic chairs and tables in the venue that were still intact after the fire, it seemed the flames spread quickly along the ceiling.
“It only took 10 or 15 seconds for the flame to spread across the entire room,” said Mr. Atipat, whose band regularly performed at the venue.
The fire was extinguished in less than an hour, local news media reported. More than 60 people with injuries were taken to nearby hospitals.
With more than 30 million international visitors a year, Bangkok was the world’s most visited city last year, according to Euromonitor International, a data firm. The city is know for fun, spice and sun, but it also has a reputation for danger because of generally low safety standards.
A string of fires at Bangkok nightclubs has raised concerns about lax enforcement of building codes and safety measures. In 2009, nearly 70 people, including foreign revelers, died at a fire at the Santika club on New Year’s. Investigators later determined that the building did not have enough working emergency exits nor was firefighting equipment adequate.
In August 2022, about 20 people died from a fire at a nightclub in Chonburi Province, southeast of Bangkok. The club was found to have been swathed in flammable material used for soundproofing and lacked proper licenses.
Hannah Beech contributed reporting.
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