Karthik007’s Blog

A fire and resulting stampede left nearly 60 dead early Thursday at one of Bangkok’s most upscale nightclubs, where about 1,000 revelers were ringing in the new year, Thai police said.

The fire broke out at the nightclub Santika about 12:35 a.m., Thai police said. Police revised the death toll down to 58 Thursday afternoon, and said 20 bodies had yet to be identified. Another 100 were believed injured.

Steven Hall, a British national injured in the blaze, told that flames began to spread along the ceiling above the stage where a band and DJ were performing. But some people appeared to believe it was part of the performance.

“At the same time there were people rushing to get out, there were other people who seemed to be lacking a sense of urgency and didn’t seem to realize what was going on,” Hall said.

The blaze started near a stage where fireworks were being used as part of a performance on the club’s closing night, police Maj. Gen. Chokchai Deeprasertwit said.

“It may have been caused from sparks, but we don’t know if it was sparks from guests or from the night club’s countdown display on the nightclub stage,” he said.

Most of the fatalities were Thais, but foreigners have been identified from Australia, the Netherlands, Nepal and Japan, police said. Most of those who died in the building died from smoke inhalation or were trampled in a rush to get out of the club.

Hall said his wife escaped ahead of him, but he got caught in a crowd. “The lights went out, and at that moment, my back started burning and I was breathing in hot air,” he said.