Dozens die in night club fire 1-1-2009 Bangkok

Bangkokpost, general news

Dozens die in night club fire

Published: 1/01/2009 at 04:35 AM Fire broke out in a night club in Thong Lo during New Year's celebrations, and police said nearly 60 people were confirmed dead.

The fire at the Santika Club in Soi Ekamai occurred shortly after the joyous midnight countdown, according to Pol Lt Gen Viboon Bangthamai, deputy metropolitan police commander.

One way in, no way out
Thong Lo district police commander Pol Col Suphin Sapphuang said 59 people had been confirmed dead - 53 at the scene and six who succumbed later in hospital.

Most of the fatality victims were Thai, but foreigners have been identified from Australia, the Netherlands, Nepal and Japan. The popular club consistently attracts a mixed crowd of Thais and visitors.
At least 184 people were injured, according to emergency services at the scene, and had been rushed to 14 hospitals around Bangkok with various injuries including burns and smoke inhalation.

Fireworks lit for the New Year celebration probably torched the facility’s curtain near the roof, he said.

Pol Lt Col Prawit Kantwol, one of the first officers on the scene, agreed.

"It appears that the fire started from the area of the stage where a band was playing. There were some pyrotechnics and it appears that they started the blaze," he said.

"Most of the victims died from suffocation but some were also killed in a stampede when people were trying to get out."

The two-storey club was completely gutted by the fire, with the front of the building blackened and partially collapsed.

Inside the charred club

Firefighters brought the blaze under control at about 2 a.m. and retrieved most of the bodies, he said. Fifty-three people were found dead in the club and two died at hospitals

Deaths apparently came from direct burns from the flames, from smoke inhalation and from injuries during the stampede to escape from the engulfing fire.
Most of the bodies were found in the club's basement. Police said the hi-so club had only one door for entry and exit.
Some victims were trapped in the basement of the club, which was accessed via a narrow stairwell. The roof of the building had also collapsed during the blaze.
Rescue workers placed the bodies in white shrouds, in rows in the club's parking lot for possible identification and removal.