A survivor of the fire at a Bangkok bar that killed at least 28 people on Sunday night described escaping the blaze by seconds after she stepped out for a smoke.
“There was a boom – a very fast boom ... There was no way to get out at all,” 41-year-old Usa Tadsree told reporters, adding that her two friends died when the fire ripped through the popular Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao eatery in Chatuchak district at around midnight.
She described sitting on the street as rescue workers brought out the body of a friend with whom she had been happily drinking and listening to music moments before, her face covered by a white sheet.
The fire – one of Thailand’s worst in recent history – also injured more than 70 people, many of them critically, and has drawn comparisons to the New Year’s Eve fire that killed 40 young partygoers at a crowded bar in Switzerland.
Thai police have said they are investigating possible negligence including blocked emergency exits as people scrambled to get out of the burning venue.
The city's disaster administration said its initial assessment was that an electrical short circuit in a ceiling air conditioner may have caused the fire, while police said there may have been issues with fire exits, overloaded wiring and use of flammable materials.
Among the crowds at the Bangkok bar on Sunday were musicians, a taxi driver, and young people who had come from outside the city seeking work.
By Monday morning, victims' friends and relatives had gathered at the Institute of Forensic Medicine, where bodies were brought for identification.
"If anyone has found my son at any hospital, please tell me,” Jansuda Tanla, 41, said.
Her son Din, 27, a singer in a pop rock band, had been performing at the bar when the fire broke out, she said.
The band’s keyboard player, Kwang, was confirmed dead, his friend Sakhon “M” Meeplian, also a musician, told Reuters.
“As a musician, I am very shocked,” he said. “It would be good for venues to have multiple exits. Musicians play to earn money for their families, none of us wanted to suffer losses like this.”
Several victims had travelled to Bangkok to seek work, finding jobs as waiters.
They included a 21-year-old migrant from Laos, Pongpaset Pongpanee, who worked at the bar alongside his brother, Kaewudon Pongpanee.
Mr Kaewudon, 24, described grabbing a fire extinguisher to try to beat back the flames that trapped his younger brother inside.
“I heard people screaming. I wanted to go help my brother, but I couldn’t get in,” he said. “There was smoke, dust, heat.”
