Thai investigators focus on possible negligence in Bangkok club fire that killed 27, injured 73

An explosion at a bar in Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, killed 27 people and injured dozens, officials said Monday, as police investigated possible negligence, including the blocking of emergency exits as people scrambled to escape the burning area.

A video posted on social media and confirmed by Reuters shows thick smoke billowing from the Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao bar, before a horizontal fire burst out of the door, as customers screamed and fled.

“Most of the victims ran to the back of the building, went into the bathroom, and there were no clear signs of fire coming out,” said Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who visited the site.

The Department of Health in this city said that 73 people were injured, 25 of them seriously, in the fire that broke out at midnight on Sunday. Thirty-two people were treated and returned home.

The bar is located in a bustling area in the north of Bangkok, connected by its suburban trains and close to two shopping malls, within walking distance of cinemas, large parks and the popular Chatuchak weekend market during the day with foreign tourists.

The area has bars with live music that are often packed on weekend nights.

‘Smoke was everywhere’

Disaster management in Bangkok said their initial assessment was that an electrical short circuit in the ceiling air conditioner may have caused the fire, while police said they were investigating whether other exits could have been blocked, doors locked and flammable materials used in stage decorations and soundproofing to amplify the sound.

The owner of the business was among those in the intensive care unit and the police wanted to interview the workers.

“For now, the police have identified negligence as the first theory guiding their investigation,” national police chief Kittiratt Phanphet told reporters.

Firefighter Chakrit Khongkom said he arrived in the first fire truck and saw the bar with many people trapped inside, many trying to escape from the back of the bar. A few people who came to the front of the building were burned.

“Smoke was everywhere,” he said. “Most of the survivors were disabled by the smoke.”

Body camera footage from an emergency worker seen by Reuters showed firefighters wearing oxygen masks wading through the blackened remains of the pub with flashlights as they searched for survivors and victims.

“We sent a rescue and search team and found that there were many people inside [bathroom]. “Most of them were trying to escape to the back because they saw that the fire was in the front,” said Chakrit.

Hours after the fire, Sukanya Wongwongwai waited outside the bar, looking for a missing friend. The survivors had told him about the chaos inside.

“My friend who was singing on stage said that they first noticed the smell of something hot, and after a while they saw that the ceiling was on fire,” said Sukanya (32).

The property was inspected in April

Entertainment venues have had several fires in recent years in Thailand, where fire safety inspections are carried out but owners do not always follow basic regulations.

City authorities said Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao was licensed as a restaurant and live music venue and was inspected in April this year, with fire extinguishers, emergency signs and fire extinguishers in place.

The manager’s office said the bar’s ceiling, decorations and furniture will be checked, as well as whether tables and other objects may have blocked the exit.

Based on the accounts of survivors, officials said the fire may have started in the front area and spread quickly, forcing many to run towards the kitchen and toilets at the back.

“There are two fire pits, one is near the kitchen. There were crates of beer,” said Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt.

At least 13 people died in a nightclub fire in Chonburi in 2022, and 65 people died during a New Year’s party at a packed club in Bangkok in 2009, where an investigation found that corruption and security breaches were key factors.