Bangkok pub fire kills 27

An explosive fire at a pub in Thailand’s capital Bangkok killed 27 people and injured dozens, officials said yesterday, with police investigating possible negligence including obstructed emergency exits as people scrambled to flee the burning venue.

A video of the incident posted on social media and verified by Reuters showed thick smoke billowing out of the Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao pub, before an intense horizontal plume of fire burst out of a doorway, as screaming customers fled.

“Most of the victims ran to the back of the building, into the bathroom, and there was no clear sign of a fire exit,” said Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who visited the site.

The city’s medical department said 73 people were injured, 25 of those critically, in the incident that took place close to midnight on Sunday. Thirty-two people have been treated and returned home.

The pub is located in a busy intersection in northern Bangkok.