Bangkok Night Club Survivors Speak Out

ZHANG: Today's top story... Survivors of a deadly night club fire in Bangkok, Thailand are speaking out. Hundreds were injured and dozens killed when flames broke out during a New Years party. STORY: Survivors of a New Year blaze at a nightclub in Thailand speak out about their ordeal. This British man initially thought the flames were part of the celebratory performances. [Steven Hall, British Survivor]: "The fire broke out what looked like above the stage and the flames' very quickly spread along the ceiling. At first, I think, initially everybody thought it was part of the performances with the bands and DJs and everything but the people on the stage looked shocked themselves. Hundreds of revelers were welcoming in the New Year at the Santika club in the Thai capital, a popular nightclub with Thais and tourists. Sirwan Jomjaitpat collapsed in the venue. [Sirwan Jomjaitpat, Thai Survivor]: "I didn't know where to go after I lost my friend's hand. Then I collapsed but I kept telling myself that I could not die and I will never die here. Then I tried to drag myself out with my hands because my legs were hurt from the big lamps that fell down from the second floor. So I used them to drag me out." At least 59 people were killed in the blaze and hundreds are wounded. Witnesses said the venue was full and around 400 people were inside when fireworks started going off close to the dance floor. Sprinklers and fire alarms didn't go off as people fled. [Steven Hall, British Survivor]: "I didn't hear any fire alarms and as far as I know there is no sprinkler system there either. And I also didn't see any fire extinguishers anywhere, so, if anything is to blame, there's no one person, I think it's just the building codes here in Thailand have to be revised. Police haven't confirmed the cause of the fire. But Bangkok nightclubs have often been the subject of safety concerns.

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YouTube | January 3, 2009

Tags:. .celebratory. .zhang. .ordeal. .sprinklers. .lamps