A devastating fire broke out at a pub in Bangkok in the early hours of Monday morning, claiming the lives of at least 27 people before emergency crews were able to extinguish the flames, according to officials.
Video footage posted online by first responders captured the massive blaze shooting out of the front entrance of the Na Ladprao pub, located in the northern section of the Thai capital. Thick black smoke could be seen rising into the night sky as people scrambled to escape. Emergency crews reported receiving the call about the fire near midnight.
Thailand Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul spoke to reporters at the scene, confirming the death toll of 27 and noting that multiple injured victims had been transported to area hospitals. He stated that authorities are actively working to determine what caused the fire.
Anutin relayed an account from a musician who had been performing at the venue that night. According to the prime minister, the performer told him he noticed smoke coming from a circuit breaker close to the stage just before the power cut out, followed by an explosion and a rapid buildup of thick smoke throughout the building.
Anutin also noted that many of the victims were discovered near the restrooms at the rear of the pub.
It took firefighters roughly 30 minutes to bring the fire under control. Images taken after the blaze show the pub’s interior left in ruin, with charred furniture and extensive damage throughout.
This is not the first time Thailand has experienced a tragedy of this kind. In 2022, a fire at a music pub in the eastern region of the country took 14 lives. And going back more than a decade, 66 people were killed and over 200 others were injured during a New Year’s Eve celebration on January 1, 2009, at the Santika nightclub in the Thai capital — a fire believed to have been ignited by an indoor fireworks display.
