Bangkok governor vows tighter regulations as bar fire death toll rises to 30
Authorities are investigating the cause of the fire and why it was so deadly, looking at a possible electrical fault and whether emergency exits were blocked
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BANGKOK: The death toll from a devastating fire at a live music bar in Thailand's capital climbed to 30 on Tuesday (Jul 14), officials said, as Bangkok's governor vowed stricter inspections and police investigated possible negligence and safety breaches.
Flames tore through the Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao bar and restaurant in the Thai capital late on Sunday evening during a live music performance, sending people fleeing, several with their clothing ablaze.
The blaze, one of the deadliest in recent years in Thailand, tore through the bar in the city's northern Chatuchak area close to midnight on Sunday, with witnesses describing an explosion, a horizontal burst of fire and smoke engulfing the single-storey venue.
Firefighters needed half an hour to bring the fire under control.
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Twenty-seven people were declared dead in the early hours of Monday, with another succumbing to injuries later that day.
By Tuesday morning, Bangkok's Chatuchak district office put the death toll at 30, with 75 people injured and 24 in critical condition.
The bar, located at a busy intersection next to train stations and two shopping malls, is one of a cluster of similar bars often crowded on weekend nights, serving food, alcohol and offering live music and televised football.
Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said on Tuesday he has ordered the city’s administration to conduct a sweeping survey of such establishments to assess risks.
The city will also step up enforcement of existing laws to improve safety standards.
Forensic police have been scouring the wreckage as authorities seek to establish how the fire started and why it was so deadly, looking at a possible electrical fault and also whether emergency exits were blocked.
Authorities say an electrical short circuit in a ceiling air conditioner could have triggered the fire in the bar, which underwent a safety inspection in April.
Police are investigating whether exits were obstructed and the use of flammable materials for stage decorations and soundproofing.
Most of the people who were killed were found trapped in windowless bathrooms where they may have sought to escape the flames, police said.
Sittipunt said shortly after the blaze that most of the victims likely died of smoke inhalation.
"We've set up a committee to investigate the truth, what should be improved and what rules should be changed," he told a press conference on Tuesday.
"We will do more random checks."
Police said 34 people have been interviewed so far and charges would be considered after facts and evidence had been gathered. The owner is among those being treated in an intensive care unit.
Several witnesses have said they saw smoke inside before midnight and the lights went out, followed by an explosion and intense flames that sent patrons fleeing.
Interior ministry official Unsit Sampuntharat said Tuesday that the venue's licence was also under scrutiny, amid questions over whether it was authorised to host live music.
"WE APOLOGISE DEEPLY"
At a Bangkok morgue on Tuesday, rescue workers were seen moving a coffin of one of the victims, surrounded by television cameras and a throng of reporters as emotional family members and friends arrived to collect the body.
Relatives of the dead gathered at Police General Hospital on Tuesday to claim the bodies of their loved ones, and AFP saw one man holding an incense stick over one of the coffins.
Booyaporn Sermsiri was at the hospital searching for her 25-year-old daughter, Jawaee "Cartoon" Sermsiri, who remains missing.
"Since we haven't found her yet, we can only wait. We are holding onto hope," she said.
She said Cartoon's friend had called her early on Monday morning, saying there had been a fire and she couldn't reach her.
Booyaporn, 51, said she had given a DNA sample and was told by police the result could come back later Tuesday.
"I am praying. Praying that she is alright," she said.
Three of the dead have yet to be named, officials said.
Former patrons of the bar and other mourners visited the site on Tuesday, adding to the growing pile of flowers leaning on the guardrails cordoning off the location of the blaze.
Handwritten messages in Thai and other languages, including Korean, were left alongside white flowers, expressing condolences to the victims.
Debris from the bar - like melted musical instruments and blackened chairs - lay scattered along the sidewalk, moved there Monday by Thai officials investigating the cause of the fire.
University student Thanakon Phoklang said he was passing by and wanted to pay his respects, calling the loss regrettable.
Nearby, employees of the Union shopping mall practised using fire extinguishers to put out flames within a controlled pit, under the guidance of firefighters.
The bar on its Facebook page apologised over the fire and said it was cooperating fully with the investigation.
"We apologise deeply over the very sad events that took place and express our condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and send our support to those injured," it said in a post that had hundreds of comments, many expressing anger and questioning its safety measures.
The bar did not answer calls or immediately respond to a request for comment on preliminary findings in the investigation.
On Monday, the president of the Thailand Structural Engineers Association, Amorn Pimanmas, told reporters outside the bar that, while he had not inspected the venue, he observed some risk factors that could worsen fire hazards.
He said the building is enclosed, has low ceilings and may have used foam as decorative materials, without adequate flame-retardant treatment.
Combined with limited air ventilation, smoke would accumulate quickly, he said, creating toxic air that could be the main cause of death for many victims.
He also noted that officials said the bar was licensed as a restaurant with a live music venue rather than an entertainment venue because it was located outside the designated zoning for such businesses.
Amorn said that would exclude it from the stricter fire safety requirements for entertainment venues.
“There must be some kind of revolution regarding fire safety procedures, and I think law enforcement is also very important," he said.
"It’s not that we don’t have the law, but it’s the problem of how the law could be strictly enforced from now on. I think the government should answer this question.”
Thailand has experienced several big fires at entertainment venues, which are subject to fire safety inspections, though protocols are not always strictly adhered to.
A nightclub fire in Chonburi killed at least 13 people in 2022 and 65 people died and about 200 were injured in a New Year's Eve blaze at a packed Bangkok club in 2009, where an investigation uncovered corruption and safety violations.
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