BANGKOK – At least 13 people were killed and 35 injured in a fire at a nightclub in the eastern province of Chonburi early Friday, a police official said.
The cause of the fire is still unknown and so far all the victims have been identified as Thai nationals, police said. A separate statement from Chonburi’s emergency service described 14 of the injuries as serious.
The fire at the Mountain B nightclub, about 111 kilometers southeast of the capital Bangkok, started around 1:00 a.m. local time, Wuttipong Somjai, superintendent of a local police station, told Reuters by phone
Rescuers search the Mountain B nightclub after a fire broke out in Sattahip district in Thailand’s Chonburi province. Sawang Rojanathammasathan Rescue
Local television footage showed people fleeing the fire and emergency workers putting out flames and looking across the burned premises, with shoes and bottles strewn on the floor.
A witness who gave his name as Nana told local television that he was with five friends when the fire broke out at the site.
“I saw flames above the stage, on the right side. I think it was around the same time that the singer on stage saw it too and shouted ‘fire!’ and threw the microphone at him,” he told broadcaster PPTV. “I saw many of the pub’s porters covered in fire inside.”
The fire has killed at least 13 people, according to Thai officials. Sawang Rojanathammasathan Rescue
The incident comes 13 years after pyrotechnics started a fire at a New Year’s Eve party at the crowded Santika nightclub in Bangkok, killing 66 people. Investigations into this fire found several key breaches at the club, official corruption and revealed lax attitudes towards safety in entertainment venues at the time.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Friday assured the victims’ families that they would receive help from the authorities and urged entertainment venues across the country to ensure they had emergency exits and safety measures in place suitable