Bangkok bar fire kills at least 27

**Charlotte Gallagher** (0:00)
This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Charlotte Gallagher, and in the early hours of Monday, the 13th of July, these are our main stories. A fire has killed at least 27 people in a bar in the Thai capital Bangkok. The US and Iran launched more attacks amid conflicting claims over whether the Strait of Hormuz is open or not. And we'll hear about the Chinese man accused of being Mexico's fentanyl king.
Also in this podcast.

**Laura Entsten** (0:35)
As a family, we now have been given permission to think about what life could have been like for us if Ruth had been reprieved.

**Charlotte Gallagher** (0:43)
The granddaughter of the last woman to be executed in Britain tells us what her conditional pardon means for the family.
We're beginning in the Thai capital Bangkok, where a fire at a busy bar has killed at least 27 people and injured more than 60 Some of those in hospital are in a critical condition. Others who were at the venue are still missing. Outside the bar, these people are trying to find their friends.

**SPEAKER_3** (1:15)
My friend who was singing on stage said at first they noticed the smell of something burning. Then a little after, they saw the ceiling was on fire.
Some people were injured because of the debris from the ceiling, because it seems that the ceiling was made out of foam material to absorb sound.

**Charlotte Gallagher** (1:35)
Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnwee Rangkoon has been to the scene.

**SPEAKER_4** (1:40)
I asked one musician that happened to be on the stage when the incident took place. He said that there was a fire at the cutout switch.
And after that thing happened very quickly. And everybody tried to flee themselves from the smoke and the flame.

**Charlotte Gallagher** (2:01)
Our correspondent Jonathan Head is outside the bar and has been telling me the latest.

**Jonathan Head** (2:06)
From outside this, it's quite a substantial building. Very typical of the bars. You can find thousands of the kind all over Thailand. It would have been absolutely filled with tables.
They're usually very crowded. So from outside this morning, we can see they put some police tape up there. There have been forensic inspectors going in and out throughout the morning.
There is this awful smell, this acrid smell of burnt plastic. And you can see some of the furniture has not been burnt, piled up outside. A few completely melted musical instruments from the band that was on stage that have been left outside. And all the windows, these very narrow windows, have been shattered probably by the heat. Apart from that, you don't really get a sense of the horrific scenes that onlookers witnessed when there were incredible jets of flame roaring out through the exits, making it very hard for people to run out. And we saw from video taken people racing out with their clothes on fire. So the fire clearly moved extremely quickly inside, what witnesses say. The power went out, the room filled with smoke. It made it very, very difficult in a large space packed with people and furniture to find their way out. And of course, as we know now, many people did not get out. Even those who sought safety in a bathroom did not survive.

**Charlotte Gallagher** (3:27)
And this isn't the first fire of this kind in Thailand, is it?

**Jonathan Head** (3:32)
It's not and it's indicative of persistent safety issues in Thailand and that relates to things like road safety as well, building safety, accidents that should be entirely preventable, continually happening. I mean, I covered a fire in a nightclub back in 2009, so 17 years ago, where 66 people died.
It was found that the exits were blocked, there weren't enough of them and that the ceiling was insulated with incredibly inflammable material that ignited almost instantly. Now we don't know the cause of this fire, but from what eyewitnesses are saying, again, from the moment it started, it moved very, very fast indeed and made it very difficult for people to get out. It's not clear how well illuminated the exits were or whether even all the exits were free to get out of. That will be discovered in the investigation. Bars in this country operates in a fairly casual legal environment where corruption is endemic. They often pay bribes to the police to be allowed to stay open when they shouldn't. And there are presumptions that the same thing happens during inspections. And what we know, this pub was inspected as recently as April and presumably was found to be up to standard. But the speed with which that fire spread last night and the difficulty people found in getting out suggests there were serious lapses.