BANGKOK, July 13 (Reuters) – An explosive fire at a pub in Thailand’s capital Bangkok killed 27 people and injured dozens, officials said on Monday, with police investigating possible negligence including obstructed emergency exits as people scrambled to flee the burning venue.
A 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 burst out of a doorway, as screaming customers fled.
“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.
The city’s medical department said 73 people were injured, 25 of those critically, in the incident that took place close to midnight on Sunday. Thirty-two people have been treated and returned home.
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 usually crowded on weekend nights.
Bangkok’s disaster administration said its initial assessment was that an electrical short circuit in a ceiling air conditioner might have caused the fire, while police said they were investigating the possibility that some exits were obstructed, doors were locked and flammable materials were used in stage decorations and soundproofing to improve audio.
The business owner was among those in an intensive care unit and police were seeking to interview staff.
“At this time, police have established negligence as the primary theory guiding their investigation,” National Police chief Kittiratt Phanphet told reporters.
