New Year Fireworks Inside Nightclub Kills 60

BANGKOK, Thailand -- People cheering "Happy New Year 2009" during a boozy Bad Boy Party, ignited fireworks inside an upscale nightclub, sparking an inferno which burnt to death 60 victims and injured 100 others who tried to escape.

"The question is, why they let someone take fireworks inside the pub and light them up," Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told reporters while visiting survivors at a nearby hospital.

Rescuers yanked on the charred limbs of trapped writhing people, while swirling bright orange flames blasted them with blistering heat and choking smoke.

Life-sized color photographs of unidentified dead people's burnt faces were posted at hospitals, so the public could recognize unclaimed bodies.

Police delicately examined burnt wallets, purses, clothing and other items, extracting charred identification cards and licenses in a search for victims' names.

Corpses, wrapped in white sheets, were laid in the nightclub's parking lot immediately after the blaze.

The Santika nightclub was a trendy, upmarket entertainment venue on Bangkok's popular Ekamai Road, in the wealthy Tong Lor neighborhood near Sukhumvit Road, where many tourists stay.

Inside the Santika, people laughed and whooped while fireworks were lit to usher in 2009, including huge spark-shooting displays on stage while a Thai rock band played, according to souvenir video shot on cell phones and later broadcast by Thai TV stations.

Simultaneously, many revelers in the crowd waved burning, hand-held sparklers.

Smiling people marveled at the dazzling indoor spectacle -- excitedly photographing themselves and each other amid the showering bursts of sparks -- until others began yelling, "Fire! Fire!" when the ceiling's foam decorations went up in flames.

The blaze erupted between midnight and 1 a.m. on Thursday (January 1), and turned the modern nightclub into a gigantic fire trap.

"There were some pyrotechnics, and it appears that they started the blaze," Police Lt.-Col. Prawit Kantwol said.

"I was in the bathroom and when I walked out, I saw flames in the roof and it fell to the floor," Montika Boontang, 28, told a reporter while describing the collapse of the sprawling two-story building which had a partial third floor of rooftop rooms.

Panicked and drunken party-goers screamed and stampeded toward the front door to escape, making it impossible for many in the large crowd to flee, unaware the building offered two smaller rear exits.

The nightclub's gutted interior became a dangerous tangle of blackened architecture, wrecked furniture, shattered windows, and abandoned liquor bottles.

Santika was built with European flourishes, including interior mock-Gothic church motifs, arched doorways, and a large wall-mounted Christian cross.

Guests on the main two floors included mostly middle and upper class Thais, expats and tourists, drawn to the popular nightclub which was closing down to move to a new location.

Advertisements offered a "Goodbye Santika, Countdown to 2009, Bad Boy Party" with live music to entertain customers who danced, drank and relaxed in its large, well-appointed rooms.

Police said the 60 dead included at least 29 corpses which were not immediately identifiable, prompting forensic teams to ask the public for DNA data if they knew anyone who disappeared in Bangkok on New Year's Eve.

Thai TV stations broadcast the names of the dead, apparently mostly Thais, while distraught relatives and survivors huddled in front of the nightclub, next to colorful balloons and other New Year's decorations, awaiting updates.

Several foreigners were hospitalized, including Brits, Australians and Japanese. A Singaporean man reportedly perished in the blaze.

Emergency services earlier issued public safety warnings about several Bangkok venues -- including shopping malls, red-light districts, and walking streets -- because eight small bombs killed three people on January 1, 2007, in attacks linked to Thailand's internal political feuds.

Security forces feared politically motivated bombings might disrupt this year's celebrations, after anti-government protesters shut down Bangkok's international airport last month, but the capital remained peaceful.

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