New Year hope turns to horror as nightclub blaze death toll hits 61

IT WAS billed as a New Year's Eve extravaganza and a last-night celebration of the popular nightclub The Santika Club before it moved.

Before the revelry was over, at least 61 people were dead and more than 200 injured after they tried to flee the flames that quickly turned the venue into a charred, gutted ruin in a glitzy Bangkok entertainment area.

Among the casualties were a Singaporean who died and at least 35 foreigners, including British, Australian, Belgian, French, Japanese, Singaporean, South Korean and American citizens, were injured.

Full details of the casualties are not expected for about a week as nearly 30 of the corpses were charred beyond recognition.

The cause of the fire was under investigation, with several witnesses saying a fireworks display during the New Year countdown ignited the blaze. But one witness said he did not see any pyrotechnics at the club and a video shot by a guest showed many revellers waving sparklers shortly before the fire erupted.

"Everybody was pushing against each other trying to get out to the front door as quickly as possible. I saw people, particularly young girls, being pushed away and crushed underneath as others were stomping on them trying to get out," said Sompong Tritaweelap, who lives in an apartment behind the club.

Victims died from burns, smoke inhalation and injuries during the stampede.

Video footage of the disaster showed bloodied, bruised and burned victims being dragged out of the burning two-storey club. The video – taken by rescue workers – showed flames racing through the building even as the rescue operation was going on.

Mr Sompong said the fire spread through the entire building in ten minutes.

"People were screaming for help from every window. It was a terrible sight. Their hair and clothes were on fire but there was nothing they could do as the fire engulfed them," he said.

The Phranakorn Centre, an official agency dealing with accidents in Bangkok, said at least 61 people died and that 35 foreigners were among the injured. The Narenthorn Emergency Centre, which was co-ordinating relief efforts, said more than 200 had been injured.

The Santika Club, popular with young, affluent Thais as well as tourists and expatriates, was celebrating not only the New Year but also its last night in the Ekamai entertainment district. The owner was planning to move because the lease could not be extended.

Steven Hall, 35, from Cardiff, said he did not see any fireworks. "As far as I could see, the fire looked like it started at the ceiling level," Mr Hall said in a hospital interview.

"The first thing I remember was seeing people on the stage and seeing flames coming out from along the ceiling level above the stage and seeing embers come down and looking at the faces of people on the stage looking horrified."

Police Lieutenant General Jongrak Jutanont said an initial investigation found the club's safety system was "substandard".

Saved by an 'angel'

A BRITISH survivor of the New Year fire horror in a Bangkok club spoke last night of how he was saved from death.

Alex Wargacki, 29, told how he collapsed and fell unconscious. "I woke up and heard this voice saying: 'Come on. Come on this way.' Then I felt myself being dragged towards an exit," he said.

"A crowd of people parted in front of me and then I was out in the open air.

"Had it not been for this voice with the hand of an angel I would not be alive today. The voice sounded as if he was Thai.

"Maybe he was at the New Year's party, maybe he was a fireman. But when I get out of hospital I want to thank him for sure."

Mr Wargacki, a currency trader, from Finchley, London, told how he saw the fire being started.

"I saw a firework being let off amongst a crowd of partygoers. It shot right across the room.

"It seemed no time at all when the whole place, walls and ceilings, were ablaze."