Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said musicians described ‘smoke from a circuit breaker near the stage followed by the power going out and an explosion’. (EPA Images pic)
BANGKOK: A fire in a bar in the Thai capital Bangkok killed at least 27 people late Sunday night, prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul told local media.
“Twenty-seven bodies were moved out, lifeless bodies. Some were sent to hospitals, we are checking their conditions,” Anutin said in televised remarks from the scene of the blaze.
The prime minister said musicians at the bar and restaurant venue on the outskirts of the capital 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.
“Smoke covered the area quickly,” he added, citing preliminary reports from survivors.
Thai national police said in a social media post at around 2am Monday that the fire had been “brought under control”.
Authorities set up a perimeter with metal barricades and police tape outside the venue, AFP journalists observed.
