Bangkok bar fire kills 27, Thai officials say emergency exits were obstructed

An explosive fire at a popular bar and restaurant in Thailand’s capital Bangkok has killed 27 people, the country’s prime minister and other officials said on July 13, in one of the deadliest such incidents in the tourism hub in recent years.

“We have recovered 27 bodies. Others are being sent to hospital,” said Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who visited the site of the fire that broke out at 11.57pm on July 12 (12.57am Singapore time).

Footage on Facebook showed screaming patrons fleeing the bar as flames and smoke envelope the front door before an explosion causes a horizontal plume of fire to jet out of the exit. One patron is on fire, while another emerges with burnt clothes.

Thai news outlet The Bangkok Post said the dead comprised nine men and 18 women. It added that firefighters put out the blaze near Soi Lat Phrao 1 Road in about half an hour.

The New York Times said two of the bar’s musicians were among the dead.

Authorities said they had identified 10 of the victims so far, nine of them Thai nationals and the other from Laos.

Another 63 people were injured, 22 critically, in the incident at the Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao bar and have been hospitalised, said Suriyachai Rawiwan, director of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

The Bangkok Post said the injured were taken to 16 hospitals.

The restaurant owner was among those receiving medical treatment, according to Thai news outlet The Nation.

The bar and restaurant is located in a busy part of northern Bangkok connected by its urban rail systems, adjacent to two shopping malls and within walking distance of cinemas, large parks and the Chatuchak weekend market that is popular with foreign tourists.

No leniency if laws have been broken: Anutin

Anutin, speaking to reporters at City Hall later on July 13, said the venue was licensed to operate as a restaurant, adding that police were looking at its inspection record.

He assured the victims and their families they would “receive the best possible care”.

Initial inquiries suggested there were “blind spots” without a visible fire escape route, he said.

He urged everyone to wait for the investigators’ report, but added: “There will be no leniency if any laws have been broken.”

He said rescue workers had been permitted to answer calls made to the mobile phones of injured or deceased customers so that information from worried relatives could be recorded, reported The Nation.

The initial assessment was that an electrical short circuit in an air-conditioner located in the ceiling caused the fire, the disaster administration said.

Based on survivor accounts, officials said the fire is understood to have started at the front stage section of the bar and spread rapidly, forcing many to run to the back of the venue, which houses the kitchen and the bathrooms.

“There are two fire exits, one is near the kitchen. There were beer crates in the way,” Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt told reporters, adding that there was a table in the way of the other fire exit, hindering evacuation.

“We need to wait for forensic investigators to examine the scene more closely,” he added.

The live music venue has a stage, two bars and a kitchen, with a total capacity of more than 300 people, as well as four fire exits, according to a post on its Facebook page promoting a live show in July.

The Bangkok Post quoted Chadchart as saying that it operated in a single-storey concrete building and musical performances were allowed inside. It had passed inspection in April.

He also quoted waiters as saying there there were about 300 customers inside when the fire broke out. Normally, the place attracts 600 to 700 people each night.

Thai media outlet Khaosod said some of the victims were tourists who were eating and drinking inside the venue when they were trapped and unable to escape.

By the time the rescue workers arrived at the scene of the accident, the fire that witnesses said ignited at the front of the venue’s stage had already burnt through the area, according to the Disaster department’s Suriyachai.

“We have to wait for the police to investigate,” he added.

Preliminary findings show the pub had two emergency exits, one of which passed through the kitchen area, reported Bloomberg. Investigators will determine whether the layout and use of that escape route met required safety standards.

Governor Chadchart said the pub had procured proper permits and had fire exits, but the fire spread rapidly and smoke filled the room, potentially making it hard for patrons to escape.

He said the blaze spread through the ceiling towards the front entrance, prompting customers to rush to the back, where the fire exits were located. But some customers became confused and rushed into the toilets where many then passed out. He said the collapsed victims, including those in front of the fire exits, blocked the escape route for other fleeing customers, reported the Bangkok Post.

Smoke, then an explosion and fire

Firefighter Chakrit Khongkom, 45, said he arrived on the first fire truck to see the Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao bar alight and many patrons stranded inside, several of them trying to escape from the back of the venue. The few people coming through the front of the venue had suffered burns.

“The fire was not that aggressive, but the smoke had engulfed 100 per cent of the venue. The smoke was everywhere,” he said. “Most of the survivors were choking on smoke.”

An emergency worker’s body-camera footage seen by Reuters showed firefighters in oxygen masks moving through the darkened remains of the pub with torches as they searched for survivors and victims.

Several victims can be seen lying prone on the floor near the pub’s toilets while rescue workers carried in stretchers.

The video also shows what appears to be the fire-damaged main room of the venue, with bar tables and stools still visible.

“We sent in a rescue and search squad and found that a lot of people were inside the toilet. Most of them were trying to escape to the back because they saw that the flame was at the front,” said Chakrit.

In the early hours of the morning, emergency personnel remained at the scene as bodies were prepared for transport and forensic teams collected evidence to help identify the victims.

Numbered bodies lay in two rows awaiting removal, surrounded by a large number of rescue workers. Firefighters stood near the pub’s entrance, its facade scorched and blackened by the blaze.

‘Smoke, no oxygen’

Motorbike taxi driver Surin Jaiharn, 45, said he saw the fire burst into the street from the bar door and helped about five people fleeing with burns and blistering skin.

“I feel depressed. I saw many deaths and I do not know the fate of the people I helped,” Surin told AFP.

He said he used clothing to put out flames on the victims’ bodies, while another driver carried a female victim away from the danger.

A band member at the venue told local media that smoke suddenly filled the room after the lights briefly went out, followed by a massive explosion and fire.

“After the explosion, I didn’t see anybody trying to run. Most of them were on the floor asking for help,” he told reporters, his head still bandaged, without giving his name.

“I ran towards the door from the stage, about five metres. It was dark and there was smoke, no oxygen.”

A Laotian tourist, Kan Kutirat told AFP he was drinking alone at the bar at around 10pm when he noticed smoke rising near the stage.

He said: “I heard loud screaming from a lot of people inside – chaos happened.”

He posted a video on Facebook, verified by AFP, that showed patrons, several with their shirts ablaze, fleeing into the street as flames surged out the door.

“I never experienced anything like this before,” he said. “The images are still stuck in my mind.”

He said he helped carry a woman out of the bar.

In his post, he added: “I could only get one person out. I tried my best. I’m sorry.”

In the hours after the fire, Sukanya Wongwongwai waited outside the pub, looking for a friend who is missing. Survivors had told her about the chaos that had ensued inside.

“My friend, who was singing on stage, said at first they noticed the smell of something burning, then a little after they saw the ceiling was on fire,” said Sukanya, 32.

“Some people were injured because of the (debris) from the ceiling because it seems that the ceiling was made out of foam material to absorb sound.”

Thai national police said in a social media post at around 2am on July 13 that the fire had been “brought under control”.

Suriyachai said authorities had arrived five minutes after the incident was reported, but by that time “the fire had already spread through the whole area, making it quite difficult for us to get in”.

“When we went in to search, we found tables and seating blocking the way everywhere and the heat was intense,” Suriyachai told AFP.

Most of the victims’ bodies were found in a rear restroom, the official said.

Thailand’s lax approach to health and safety regulations, particularly in its bars and nightclubs, has long raised concerns.

Twenty-five people died after a fire ripped through the Mountain B nightclub in Thailand’s eastern Chonburi province in 2022.

A huge fire tore through a New Year’s Eve party at Bangkok’s Santika club in 2009, killing 67 people and injuring more than 200.

(REUTERS, AFP, THE NATION/ANN, NYTIMES)