Thai indie band Thotsakan was performing at a packed bar in Bangkok on Sunday when band manager Ice Athipat Wijarn, seated off stage, saw smoke emerging from behind the keyboardist
The report indicates that thai indie band Thotsakan was performing at a packed bar in Bangkok on Sunday when band manager Ice Athipat Wijarn, seated off stage, saw smoke emerging from behind the keyboardist.
It further notes that the keyboardist, Kwang, shouted for people to flee – and within seconds a fierce blaze tore through Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao, in the city’s vibrant Chatuchak district.
Ice recalls fumbling with the door in the smoke-engulfed room as he tried to escape. Then something exploded, throwing him out of the bar.
The blaze killed at least 27 people and left dozens more injured, authorities confirmed on Monday.
Kwang, along with Thotsakan’s female singer Breeze and drummer Bew, died after succumbing to their injuries, according to a Facebook post from another band member, Patchara Songphatkaew.
The whereabouts of Din, a male singer, is still unclear.
“Maybe a miracle will happen,” Patchara wrote. “Let’s pray things turn out well.”
Thotsakan’s lead singer Tik Chaichana managed to escape unscathed only because he went to the washroom moments before the fire broke out, Thai media reported. Videos online showed him sobbing as he ran out of the burning bar.
“I’m safe, thank you everyone for your concern. But my phone and all my belongings burned… My mind is truly not okay right now,” Tik wrote in a Facebook post.
Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao, like many bars and pubs along the same street, was popular with locals. At the time of writing only one foreigner, a Laotian, has been identified among those who died.
Footage posted online showed panicked customers screaming as they fled – some with their clothes on fire – through the flaming front door. More than 60 people are now being treated in hospital, eight of whom are critically injured, Thai authorities say.
Several residents in the area described being stunned by the scale of the blaze.
“I saw [firefighters] trying to extinguish the flames almost everywhere,” stated Titi Liewcha, who lives across the street from the bar. “I saw ambulances and rescue vehicles everywhere. I didn’t know what to do. I just sat there stunned for a while.”
Titi and Sirinya, who also lives nearby, told BBC Thai they initially feared that the fire would spread towards their homes.
