BANGKOK – Thai authorities are investigating if negligence was what led to the deadly inferno at a Bangkok bar late on Sunday, as survivors reported doors being locked and the lack of signage demarcating emergency exits. The use of flammable materials as decoration may have facilitated the rapid spread of the fire, which originated near the stage, police say.
This “indicates a lack of caution and disregard for the safety of the patrons,” Police General Kittiratt Phanphet said on Monday.
The blaze has left at least 30 people dead and dozens more injured. First responders found many of the victims in the restrooms at the end of the bar, from where experts believe they tried to flee – but couldn’t. Worsak Kanok Nukulchai, a professor specialising in structural engineering, believes many people would have died by inhaling toxic smoke “even before getting burned”.
The first flames would have reacted with the flammable materials to produce carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide, often known as the “toxic twins” of fire smoke, he explains.
The bar was registered as a “restaurant with live music” rather than an “entertainment venue”, Bangkok authorities have confirmed, and it was therefore not required to use fire-retardant materials. Bangkok’s Metropolitan Administration says it is reviewing regulations governing the materials allowed in the construction and decoration of entertainment venues and restaurants alike. According to PBS Thai, the owner of Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao previously owned another pub in Thailand’s Yasothon province, which was also destroyed by fire in December 2019. There were no casualties in the earlier incident because the blaze happened during the day, the report said.
