KHON KAEN: A two-storey residence in Mancha Khiri district was destroyed by a fire believed started by a plugged-in mobile phone left to overcharge when the 80-year-old householder went out for the night.
Police were alerted to the fire at the wooden house in Ban Nong To at around 12.30am on Wednesday.
Firefighters from several districts were dispatched to the site and brought the blaze under control in about 30 minutes. By then the house was a charred ruin.
There was no-one home at the time.
Pol Col Banjong Sirisut, superintendent of Mancha Khiri police station, said neighbours told officers they heard a loud noise from inside the house, and then saw flames which quickly spread through it.
The house owner, identified only as Thongkham, 80, later arrived home and passed out when she saw what had become of her house. She was taken to hospital.
Thongkham later told police she set her mobile phone to charge in her bedroom and forgot to unplug it before leaving the house on business.
“This is the likely cause of the fire,” Pol Col Banjong Sirisut said.
The cause of the blaze is still being investigated.
