The conditions in which the place was left indicate how destructive the flames were. AP photo.
At least 13 people died and 37 others were injured. following a fire that broke out in the early hours of this Friday in a bowling alley in the Thai province of Chonburi, about 160 kilometers southeast of Bangkok, the country’s capital.
Three of the fatalities were under the age of 20.while more than thirty of the injured are still hospitalized in two hospitals in the region, with different levels of severity, as explained by the captain of the Plutaluang Police, Boonsong Yingyong, in dialogue with the EFE news agency.
The flames exploded around 1.25pm on Friday in the disco Mountain Bas reported by the Sattahip District Rescue Teams, who also made it clear four women and nine men lost their lives.
While investigating the cause of the fire, still unknown, the authorities reported it they took the owner of the place and some workers to a police station to testify on the facts. In addition, they investigate the license conditions of the bowling alley.
For its part, the Thai government has announced the inspection of the “facilities and safety” of other entertainment sites “in order to prevent further fires”.
According to witnesses, the flames were first seen on the roof of the nightclub and then spread. AFP photo.
“Places of fun that do not meet the standards or they do not follow the rules, they must work to improve them before operating as usual, “warned government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, in an official statement released after the tragedy.
Witnesses present at the bowling alley said that the strong flames were first seen on the roof of the nightclub and that they “spread quickly” throughout the building thanks to the “acoustic foam” typical of those places, according to police sources.
A DJ of the locals, who did not identify themselves by name, told PPTV broadcaster the flames spread in about a minutewhen he heard the sound of an explosion that broke the glass.
It took firefighters more than two hours to bring the flames back under control. AFP photo.
Meanwhile, firefighters reported that it took more than two hours to control the fire due to the high number of flammable material inside the premises, such as air conditioners and soundproofing.
On social networks, many of the witnesses of the event posted videos containing sensitive images that quickly went viral. In them we see a cloud of black smoke followed by a strong explosion.
Then the flames that were on the roof take over the entire room. Through the door you can see several people runs away in despair and then he threw himself on the ground, trying to put out the fire that had taken his clothes.
With information from EFE.
Source: Clarin
