Twenty-seven people killed in fire at Bangkok pub, say officials

At least 27 people have been killed in a fire that engulfed a pub in Bangkok early on Monday morning, officials said.

Rescuers said the fire was reported around midnight.

Footage shared online by emergency services personnel showed the blaze raging out of the front door of the Na Ladprao pub in the northern part of the Thai capital as people tried to flee, with thick black smoke billowing into the sky.

Thailand Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters at the scene that 27 people had died and several had been taken to hospital.

He said the cause of the fire was under investigation.

Firefighters took about half-an-hour to bring the fire under control, officials said.

Photos of the aftermath show charred tables and chairs, and the damaged interior of the pub.

Thailand has seen similar tragedies in the past. In 2022, 14 people were killed by a fire at a music pub in the eastern part of the country.

And more than a decade before that, 66 people were killed and more than 200 injured in a fire during a January 1 2009 New Year’s Eve celebration at the Santika nightclub in Thailand’s capital.

That blaze was apparently sparked by an indoor fireworks display.