Uitgegeven:31 december 2008 21:30
Laatst gewijzigd:1 januari 2009 08:22
**BANGKOK - Bij een brand in een nachtclub in de Thaise hoofdstad Bangkok zijn bijna zestig doden gevallen. Dat deelde de politie donderdag (plaatselijke tijd) mee. **
Hulpverleners en politiemensen spraken van zeker 59 doden onder de feestvierders in de nachtclub Santika. Zij luidden er in de nacht van woensdag op donderdag het nieuwe jaar in. Ongeveer 190 mensen raakten gewond.
Nederlanders
Een politiewoordvoerder had tegen de Bangkok Post gezegd dat de meeste slachtoffers Thai zijn, maar dat ook buitenlanders zijn omgekomen.
Onder de doden zijn buitenlanders uit Australië, Nederland, Nepal en Japan geïdentificeerd, aldus de krant. Maar volgens de politie in het district waar de brand plaatsvond, is vooralsnog de enige bevestigde buitenlandse dode een Singaporees.
Oorzaak
Over de oorzaak van de brand is nog niets bekend. Veel plaatselijke media speculeerden dat kortsluiting tot het drama heeft geleid. Enkele televisiezenders sloten niet uit dat de brand door vuurwerk was ontstaan.
Fire broke out in a night club in Thong Lo during New Year’s celebrations, and police said nearly 60 people were confirmed dead.
The fire at the Santika Club in Soi Ekamai occurred shortly after the joyous midnight countdown, according to Pol Lt Gen Viboon Bangthamai, deputy metropolitan police commander.
One way in, no way out
Thong Lo district police commander Pol Col Suphin Sapphuang said 59 people had been confirmed dead - 53 at the scene and six who succumbed later in hospital.
Most of the fatality victims were Thai, but foreigners have been identified from Australia, the Netherlands, Nepal and Japan. The popular club consistently attracts a mixed crowd of Thais and visitors.
At least 184 people were injured, according to emergency services at the scene, and had been rushed to 14 hospitals around Bangkok with various injuries including burns and smoke inhalation.
Fireworks lit for the New Year celebration probably torched the facility’s curtain near the roof, he said.
Pol Lt Col Prawit Kantwol, one of the first officers on the scene, agreed.
“It appears that the fire started from the area of the stage where a band was playing. There were some pyrotechnics and it appears that they started the blaze,” he said.
“Most of the victims died from suffocation but some were also killed in a stampede when people were trying to get out.”
The two-storey club was completely gutted by the fire, with the front of the building blackened and partially collapsed.
Inside the charred club
Firefighters brought the blaze under control at about 2 a.m. and retrieved most of the bodies, he said. Fifty-three people were found dead in the club and two died at hospitals.
Deaths apparently came from direct burns from the flames, from smoke inhalation and from injuries during the stampede to escape from the engulfing fire.
Most of the bodies were found in the club’s basement. Police said the hi-so club had only one door for entry and exit.
Some victims were trapped in the basement of the club, which was accessed via a narrow stairwell. The roof of the building had also collapsed during the blaze.
Rescue workers placed the bodies in white shrouds, in rows in the club’s parking lot for possible identification and removal.
Mijn medeleven gaat uit naar alle nabestaanden… Dit is natuurlijk verschrikkelijk en de beelden uit Volendam van een aantal jaar geleden komen weer naar boven.
Hopelijk heeft niemand hier familie, vrienden of kennissen onder de slachtoffers.
Published: 27/08/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
The owner of the Santika pub - which erupted into a deadly inferno in the first few seconds of this year - has told a court he could offer just 30,000 baht in compensation to relatives of the dead and to surviving victims.
The blaze killed 66 people and injured hundreds. The offer was part of a second round of court settlement talks between pub owner and operator Suriya Ritrabue and the victims at Phra Khanong Provincial Court yesterday.
A lawyer representing Mr Suriya told complainants the pub owner had no more money to pay compensation.
Families affected by the Santika fire have filed seven civil suits against Mr Suriya demanding compensation totalling 105.7 million baht.
But the initial court settlement process was required before civil suits could begin.
The lawyer said the pub owner could not afford to pay more than his offer but a victim who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the management and business partners of the pub should share responsibility to compensate fire victims.
Chairat Saeng-arun, who is an adviser to the Foundation for Consumers that has supported the Santika fire victims’ fight for compensation, said the pub owner would be given one last chance to make an acceptable offer in the next court settlement negotiation set for Nov 25.
If the talks fail again, victims and relatives of the dead would launch legal proceedings against the 33 Santika pub management members and business partners who should be held responsible for the consequences of the fire, Mr Chairat said.
More than eight months after the inferno, no victims have received compensation. Forty more complaints have been lodged against the pub operator.