Mountain B Pub fire claims its 21st victim

Tragedy continues to unfold in the wake of the deadly Mountain B Pub fire in Chon Buri. A 21st victim has succumbed to his injuries sustained during the deadly fire that ripped through the pub on August 5 at around 1 am, leaving a trail of terror, injuries, death, and a hollowed-out shell of a building.

With flammable soundproofing foam panels lining the ceiling and rubber tyres lining the roof to dampen vibrations, the club went up in toxic fumes within minutes, trapping people who scrambled to escape the one open door as two additional exits were locked and blocked. Thirteen bodies were recovered at the scene and of the dozens hospitalised, 19 remain in the hospital and 7 more died.

The 21st victim of the Mountain B Pub fire was confirmed to have passed away yesterday after being admitted to the hospital in serious condition. The 27 year old victim was identified as Mr Napat Fungthammasarn, an engineer who spent 22 days in the hospital fighting to survive. Just two days earlier, doctors in Bangkok performed an operation on his leg in an attempt to save his life, but it failed and he succumbed to his injuries.

The owners of the pub, now out on bail, had vowed to pay compensation to all the victim’s families, and rumours spread that they are selling the attached bistro restaurant quickly to cover those costs after for-sale signs were spotted on Friday.

Some of the previous victims who made it out of the burning building, but later succumbed to their injuries:

• 20th victim: Little information was released of the 20th person to die, reported on August 20, except confirmation that 9 of the 20 victims still hospitalised were on ventilators.
• 19th victim: Ice, a 23 year old woman passed away at Chon Buri hospital on August 15 at 2.50am today – leaving her five year old daughter without a mother or father. “Ice” went to Mountain B with her boyfriend, 30 year old Chatchai “Im” Chuenkha, who worked as a singer in the nightclub. Im died on the night of the fire.
• 18th victim: A young girl of 17 called Mind, who had been on life support in the hospital since the night of the fire, passed away at 10.14pm on August 12. “Mind” was the third minor to die in the fire, after a 17 year old and an 18 year old (a friend of Mind’s) were found dead inside the club after the fire. The owners say they don’t know how underage people were able to get inside the pub.
• 17th victim: Lt. Cl. Palitdet Chumngern, a marine in the Royal Thai Navy, died at 7.54am August 11 at Sririraj Hospital, according to the Chon Buri Provincial Public Relations Office.
• 16th victim: A 23 year old man identified as Sittichai Ouilert died at Chon Buri hospital at 10.21pm on August 9.
• 15th victim: A 30 year old man had been part of a group at the club that night celebrating his birthday and died on the evening of August 6. Two other members of the group were trapped in the fire and perished as they had reserved a table right by the stage making it difficult to get to the one accessible exit.

SOURCE: TPN National