Massive Fire at Route 999 in Pattaya

[dvk1951]

Just saw a short clip on the Thai news about a fire at Route 999 disco. It appeared to be a serious fire. Anyone have any additional info???????

[Amethyst]

Yeah its on the news... more info should be comming soon

[Mobi]

Yeah its on the news... more info should be comming soon

According to The Nation: 5 killed, 20 injured.

Channel 7 have a live report going on.

[hm1973]

I can confirm that 7 are now dead and 58 injured. However doctors expect further fatalities. The fire happened at around 9.30pm. Full update on tomorrows PCN. Intial reports suggest an electrical fault with a neon sign which quickly spread through the building.

[djinn]

At 11 pm still full of ambulances speeding on sukhumvit and lot water trucks too coming from everywhere (banglamung....)

So I fear not finished.

[george]

Seven killed, 50 injured in Pataya pub fire

PATTAYA: -- Seven people were killed and about 50 were injured last night when fire engulfed a building in Pattaya that houses several entertainment venues, police said.

The fire started at about 9pm in the building, which is located on Pattaya No 3 Road in Chon Buri's Bang Lamung district.

A number of the victims are thought to be employees of the entertainment venue's discotheque, pub and cocktail lounge, said Police Colonel Somnuek Janket, superintendent of the Pattaya police station.

It was not confirmed last night whether any customers were among those injured.

Five of the victims - four women and one man - were pronounced dead after being admitted to Bang Lamung Hospital in Chon Buri. The sex of the other victims, who died inside the pub, remained unknown.

When the fire began, there were around 300 customers in the entertainment venues and stage shows were being performed.

The venue normally caters for between 300 and 500 visitors every day, including foreigners, local residents said.

Most of the victims are believed to have died from suffocation and those injured suffered from burns, police said.

Rescue workers said they believe all of the building's surviving occupants were evacuated.

The fire was extinguished but police were unable to enter the compound for inspection as the building was still smouldering.

--The Nation 2006-05-07

[Meg_2003]

Woah, I was in there only last night.. I got there tonight at 9:30 when I heard about the fire and the place was totally destroyed so I imagine it must have started quite earlier..

Its a shame, the place was gorgeous inside.. Anyone know where it started? I heard it started at the front but someone else said it started in the Coyote room at the back?

[hm1973]

Massive Fire at Route 999 in North Pattaya, 8 dead and 58 injured

Full update with pictures here

[farangene]

On the news broadcast that my wife listened to at midnight, they reported 7 dead and 79 hurt. There were still more people still in the building (dont know what that exactly means). Fire was preceded by an explosion. The vicitims included both locals and tourists.

Also, the casualty list was worsened because some of the exit doors were locked. #%%^@^^

[Meg_2003]

" The vicitims included both locals and tourists. "

The fire started at about 9-9:30pm when there were no customers..

All the people involved were workers at Route 999. A meeting was taking place in the front room.

[hm1973]

Update at 01.14 (Thai Time).

There are definetly 8 dead, one has been confirmed as a foreign man who was about to DJ for his first night at the club. I am now trying to find out his country of origin.

Sorry, information was not correct....no foreigners killed in the fire

Edited May 7, 2006 by hm1973

[VanZam]

" The vicitims included both locals and tourists. "

The fire started at about 9-9:30pm when there were no customers..

All the people involved were workers at Route 999. A meeting was taking place in the front room.

Route 999 has about 90 staff does it?

[Meg_2003]

Route 999 has about 90 staff does it?

Reported on the news 80 dancers, 100 waiters ... But there didnt seem to be that many dancers when I went

A fire door in every room would have been a good idea and that would maybe have prevented the deaths!

Edited May 7, 2006 by Meg_ken2003

[bulmercke]

Strange. Fire broke out when there were no customers there.

Only staff. Surely they would have been fairly familiar with the layout of the building - exits - etc.

And could have made their escape quickly.

But a young woman burns to death.

Obviously no possibility of escape.

And it's reported the back door - or at least one back entrance was locked at the time.

And presumably, nobody was under the influence of alcohol and it's only a two level building.

No heaving masses on a grossly-over-crowded dance floor.

Sympathies/condolences to friends and family of the bereaved.

Another bad day for Pattaya, and Thailand for that matter!

Edited May 7, 2006 by bulmercke

[pjallittle]

Massive Fire at Route 999 in North Pattaya, 8 dead and 58 injured

Full update with pictures here

Thanks 'hm1973' for posting this update, it looks like the actions of the firemen saved a lot of lives, they should be given due credit for their quick thinking.

Seems like all the news involves tragedies in Thailand, falling elevators, now this. Doesn't anything good ever get reported?

[Digger]

It was only a matter of time before something like this was going to happen - why do people never learn from these avoidable disasters. I rarely go to Nightclubs anymore for the simple reason that I have never yet found one that has emergency exits, let alone emergency exits that work the way are designed to.

Such a waste of life and so easily preventable.

Another bad day for Thailands tourism industry.

Incidentally, In my opinion, Lucifers on Walking Street has to be the worst example of a death trap waiting to happen. It only has one exit and thats just about 1m wide for about a 10m long corridor to the front door.

[davethailand]

It was only a matter of time before something like this was going to happen - why do people never learn from these avoidable disasters. I rarely go to Nightclubs anymore for the simple reason that I have never yet found one that has emergency exits, let alone emergency exits that work the way are designed to.

Such a waste of life and so easily preventable.

Another bad day for Thailands tourism industry.

Incidentally, In my opinion, Lucifers on Walking Street has to be the worst example of a death trap waiting to happen. It only has one exit and thats just about 1m wide for about a 10m long corridor to the front door.

Agreed, About 2 years ago i put a fire exit in the club (now 2 exits) and put in lots of fire extinguishers, i was then issued with a safety certificate from city hall, still bad compared to uk though.

[falang74]

It was only a matter of time before something like this was going to happen - why do people never learn from these avoidable disasters. I rarely go to Nightclubs anymore for the simple reason that I have never yet found one that has emergency exits, let alone emergency exits that work the way are designed to.

Such a waste of life and so easily preventable.

Another bad day for Thailands tourism industry.

Incidentally, In my opinion, Lucifers on Walking Street has to be the worst example of a death trap waiting to happen. It only has one exit and thats just about 1m wide for about a 10m long corridor to the front door.

Agreed, About 2 years ago i put a fire exit in the club (now 2 exits) and put in lots of fire extinguishers, i was then issued with a safety certificate from city hall, still bad compared to uk though.

You can add all the extinguishers and doors you want but when a management then doesn't keep up maintanance of such safety items they become almost worse because of a false sense of safety. Even top prevention/sprinkler systems fail and must be maintained.

I am not implying DaveinThailand you would be so careless, but there are many who just don't give a ######. I won't even get into Thai electrician standards or lack there of in many areas, but the truth is people continue to die all over the world from accidental fires set even in high priced hotels with major safety measures. This means that often it is the fear and the animalistic stamepede that occurs of not only patrons but staff due to fear and lack of education. This causes (Kon Dtit) human traffic jams which are often the true culprit in fires.

Either way, it was tragic. I am sorry for the loss of all those affected. DaveinThailand, good on ya for thinking and preparing ahead of time. I hope you also discussed with staff about escape plans, educating staff on how to properly extinguish a fire quickly and not over populating the clubs or allowing escape routes to be blocked by objects, customers or staff.

Aaron (firebug)

Edited May 7, 2006 by falang74

[Meg_2003]

Just been back to Route 999 (2:15am) to have a look whats going on.. There are still lots of people pulling up on their bikes to look, and people sat around watching.. There were still fire engines there too.. It looks horrible

[egeefay]

Interesting that all the other major English online newspapers have seemed to picked up on this story...all except the Bangkok post onlline. They must not work on weekends.

[Meg_2003]

Interesting that all the other major English online newspapers have seemed to picked up on this story...all except the Bangkok post onlline. They must not work on weekends.

Ive only seen the Pattaya City News website.. Is it on other websites too? Couldnt find anything on Pattaya People..

[Kerryd]

# 1 Mama at Polo has a sister that works at Route 999. She's been on the phone with her and listening to the radio.

The last (unconfirmed) report she (Mama) gave us was 11 dead and 100+ injured. The fire apparently started in the Coyote Club section and spread to the rest of the building.

Last time I was there was a couple of months ago with half a dozen staff from Polo. I noticed that the Big Band Club had few exits as well, but at least there were some big windows that could be smashed (assuming one was close enough and didn't get crushed in the stampede).

I like to look for exits where ever I go, just in case. I have noticed a lot of places don't have them for what ever reasons, and few places have any kind of fire suppression systems installed.

TiT (and a lot of the rest of S.E.A. in fact).

[kuhnk]

"No heaving masses on a grossly-over-crowded dance floor."

I can't begin to imagin what the death toll would have been if the place was packed.

Might have been another:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/03/04/...ain542796.shtml

[Terminator]

Incidentally, In my opinion, Lucifers on Walking Street has to be the worst example of a death trap waiting to happen. It only has one exit and thats just about 1m wide for about a 10m long corridor to the front door.

plus you can try to jump over the balcony into the bay!

its well known that most bars and clubs in thailand have poor fire safety systems in place, try nana plaza during a fire, or even patpong with to way the stalls are crowded in.

and the owners now get his bum kicked which could have been easily avoided if the proper authorites had done their job...ah moolah

feel sorry for the families though as they were innocent victims!

[gharknes]

"No heaving masses on a grossly-over-crowded dance floor."

I can't begin to imagin what the death toll would have been if the place was packed.

Might have been another:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/03/04/...ain542796.shtml

my thoughts exactly, the dead and injured where mostly staff, scary thought, 3 hrs later and ???????

[thymode91]

I hope the government may induce safety measure before allowing those Bar/discotique to operate. My condolence to all the victims.

[Chopper]

This is what is left of the place this morning:

Reminds me of Jomtien about ten years ago. I hope they prosecute the management if it is true that the rear fire exit was locked.

[Richard W]

Seems like all the news involves tragedies in Thailand, falling elevators, now this. Doesn't anything good ever get reported?

Be thankful that good things are so frequent that they are not newsworthy.

[Scott]

Condolences to all those who affected by the tragedy.

[kurgen]

R.I.P. all those who died.

I hope the owners go to jail for locking the exit (s)