Mountain B Pub demolished as the fire claims 25th victim

The Mountain B Pub fire tragedy never seems to end, as a 25th victim succumbed to her injuries, on the same day the burned husk of the club was demolished. The August 5 inferno killed 13 people on the spot and over the weeks following the tragedy 11 more died of burn wounds in various hospitals. Yesterday, 26 year old Parichart “Pop” Kwanyuenyong died after a 72-day battle for her life.

She had sustained severe injuries in the Mountain B Pub fire with burns covering 85% of her body. After over two months in the hospital, she died Saturday, with her passing officially announced on Sunday.

The fire that claimed so many lives and injured 32 others way caused by a spark that set the foam insulation tiles ablaze, exacerbated by rubber tires on the roof to further dampen sound. Now the entire burned-out shell of the building is gone.

The building was demolished on Saturday, leaving an empty lot on Sukhumvit Road where the venue was briefly open before the fire. The last remaining bits of the iron structures of the former Mountain B Pub have now been hauled off the property according to The Pattaya News.

The father and son owners of the pub are out on bail while cases are brought by victims’ families and by authorities. The families have pushed for a deeper probe and asked the Crime Suppression Division or Department of Special Investigation to launch an outside look into the incident. They believe that there are more secret business partners or even authorities involved in the club that was able to open without proper licensing.

The previous victims who died in the months since the fire:

• 24th victim: A navy officer, died from his injuries in the hospital on October 3 after fighting for his life for two months in the ICU.
• 23rd victim: On September 2, a 27 year old army officer who had sustained burns on over 60% of his body during the fire died after fighting for his life for 28 days.
• 22nd victim: On August 28, a 30 year old Thai woman became the ninth person to die after being hospitalised. Her full name was not given, only a photo and the nickname Pla.
• 21st victim: 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 on Saturday.
• 20th victim: Little information was released of the 20th person to die, reported on August 20, except confirmation that nine 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.