At least 27 people have died and another 22 are fighting for their lives after a huge fire engulfed a pub in Bangkok, officials said.
In total, 90 people were killed or injured in a pub fire in Bangkok on Sunday night.
A fire broke out in the popular local venue Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao, with a musician reporting that it started from near the stage.
The fire escalated rapidly as revellers scrambled to evacuate the premises, but within moments the building erupted into flames.
The inferno was so powerful that it was described as watching a ‘jet engine exhaust’ come out of the door as huge flames spread into the street.
By the time rescuers arrived at around midnight local time, the fire had already burned through the building.
Casualties were lined up outside the pub, many tragically placed in body bags.
Firefighters tackled the remaining blaze for around half an hour before bringing it under control.
Shocking footage showed the pub engulfed in flames in Bangkok, Thailand
Photographs from inside the building show the charred ramins of the tables and chairs
Firefighters and paramedics pictured outside the pub urgently trying to treat victims who were caught in the blaze
‘The fire spread very quickly, reaching up to the ceiling. Smoke was likely the main cause of death,’ Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt told reporters outside the venue on the outskirts of the Thai capital.
He said 27 people were killed and 63 were hospitalised with injuries, including 22 in critical condition, adding that authorities had launched an investigation.
Among those killed, 18 were reported to be women and nine men.
A number of the victims were found near the fire exit and authorities believe there may have been obstructions blocking it, he said.
Laotian tourist Kan Kutirat, said: ‘I heard loud screaming from a lot of people inside – chaos happened.’
He shared a video on Facebook that showed patrons – several with their shirts ablaze – fleeing into the street as flames surged out the door.
Mr Kutirat said he was drinking alone at the bar at around 10pm on Sunday when he noticed smoke rising near the stage.
‘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.
He added: ‘I could only get one person out. I tried my best. I’m sorry.’
Inside the bar, witnesses described seeing a row of stools and bottles of beer still on tables covered with white dust.
The smell of burned plastic lingered over the area several hours after the fire broke out, while most of the windows of the bar were blown out.
A small crowd of people gathered behind the cordon of metal barricades and police tape, some of them in their pyjamas.
Thai national police said in a social media post at around 2am Monday (7pm GMT) that the fire had been ‘brought under control’.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul had earlier visited the scene.
He said musicians at the venue described ‘smoke from a circuit breaker near the stage followed by the power going out and an explosion’.
‘Most of the victims ran to the back, to toilets with no exit. It could be because of panic because there was fire and smoke in the restaurant,’ Anutin told reporters.
Rescue teams outside the site of the fire in Bangkok after it was brought under control by firefighters
Witnesses said the fire started at the front of the stage in the venue where smoke was reported coming out of a circuit breaker
Damaged beer bottles stand covered in the thick dust and ash created by the smoke inside the pub
Footage showed the huge blaze raging out of the front door of the building in the northern part of the Thai capital, as a huge black cloud of smoke was sent billowing into the sky.
Photos from the aftermath show the charred remains of tables and chairs and the interior damaged by smoke.
Social media footage of the blaze showed flames bursting out of the front of the pub and into the street like a blowtorch.
Revellers fled the building in fear as the front of the building rapidly changed from a cloud of smoke into an inferno.
Video taken later shows the aftermath of the blaze, with charred chairs and tables covered in ash.
Several people can be seen lying across the road outside as officers attempt to provide emergency care.
Another video showed the moment as revellers ran away from the building as the flames exploded into the street.
They returned to the front door where smoke was still coming out and tables and chairs had been knocked over from the impact.
The inside of the building remained alight with a burning red glow.
One social media user described the fire as resembling an ‘exhaust thrust from a jet engine’.
Firefighters from the Phaholyothin, Phaya Thai, and Huai Khwang fire stations battled the inferno with three water hoses.
The bar is located in the Chatuchak District and is a well-known and popular entertainment venue and restaurant in the area, according to local outlet The Daily News.
Members of the public have been urged to call a hotline if they believe friends or relatives were at the venue.
A police officer stands guard after a massive fire engulfed a bar in Bangkok
Investigators inside the building try to ascertain the cause of the deadly blaze
A shoe left outside the pub where the fire caused catastrophic damage
The family of a waitress, originally from Laos, who was working at the venue, told Sky News, that she is still missing.
‘They told us that many of the workers inside this venue were from Laos, of course, in this southeast Asian region.
‘But at the moment you just get a sense of the enormity of this blast. And here, just people still lingering around hoping to get further information.’
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: ”We are in contact with the local authorities regarding a fire in Bangkok and stand ready to provide consular assistance to any affected British nationals affected by the incident.’
Thailand has seen similar tragedies in the past.
In 2022, 14 people were killed by a fire at a music pub in the eastern part of the country.
And more than a decade before that, 66 people were killed and more than 200 were injured in a fire during a 2009 New Year’s Eve celebration at the Santika nightclub in Thailand’s capital.
That blaze was said to be sparked by an indoor fireworks display.



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