By Reuters
Bangkok: Three foreigners were killed after a fire broke out at a hotel near Bangkok’s popular backpacker district on Sunday night, authorities said, with seven others being treated in hospital.
The fire broke out on the fifth floor of the six-storey Ember Hotel, Bangkok’s Fire and Rescue Department said, with a woman dying at the scene and two men pronounced dead in hospital.
Police stand guard after The Ember Hotel fire in Bangkok, Thailand.Credit: AP
The three victims who died in the fire were later identified as a Brazilian woman, Carolina Pimentel Canales de Albuquerque, 24, a Ukrainian man, Tuzov Victor, 27, and an American man, Freeman Timothy Jr, 35, the Telegraph of London reported.
The hotel is near the Khao San area of Bangkok that is popular with backpackers and known for its bars and hostels.
“Authorities reacted quickly and the fire alarm sounded, but the smoke was fast,” Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said on Monday.
Firefighters are investigating the cause of the fire.Credit: AP
There were 75 people in the hostel, 34 of whom were rescued from the rooftop, he said.
Sreekanth Kolamala, a 37-year-old Indian national who lives in Singapore and was in Thailand on vacation, witnessed the rescue operation and said that firefighters “broke the glass over there to try to pull people out”.
The cause of the fire was still being investigated, the governor said. He has ordered a citywide inspection of fire escape routes in hotels and entertainment venues.
Khao San Road, where 20,000 people are expected at a New Year’s Eve countdown event on Tuesday night.Credit: iStock
“We have to build confidence and take care of tourists,” Chadchart said.
Sanga Ruangwattanakul, the president of the Khao San Road Business Association, stood outside The Ember Hotel on Monday, looking at the damage. He said 20,000 people were expected at a New Year’s Eve countdown event in the city on Tuesday night.
“Now everybody’s scared about what happened and they’re scared it will affect the event tomorrow. But definitely there’s no worry because we already had a meeting with the police station, and we have over 150 police and district staff to cover Khao San Road for security,” he said.
Tourism is a key driver of South-East Asia’s second-largest economy. Thailand recorded 32 million foreign tourist arrivals from January 1 to December 1, up 28 per cent from a year earlier, and they spent 1.5 trillion baht ($70 billion).
In 2019, before the pandemic, visitor numbers reached a record of nearly 40 million.
Reuters, AP
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