Burmese workers camp burns in Phuket

PHUKET: A Burmese workers’ camp in Phuket burned to the ground in just 20 minutes on Friday night, leading an unknown number of occupants to flee.

The fire started around 9pm at the site in Chalong, which housed workers for a stone processing company belonging to a prominent Phuket family.

Disaster Prevention and Mitigation staff from Tambon Chalong and Wichit Municipality rushed four fire engines to the scene, on Soi San Jao Guan Oo.

Finding it hard to access the site because the entrance was too narrow for their vehicles, firefighters had to spray water over the surrounding wall.

String winds spread the fire quickly across all ten wooden structures inside the camp, reducing them to cinders within 20 minutes.

Phuket Ruamjai Kupai rescue foundation workers helped the roughly 50 workers who lived there to escape.

The camp’s occupants then fled the area, however, making it impossible for the authorities to know for certain if they all got out in time.

Chalong Police Inspector Chianchai Duangsuwan said the fire started after a worker plugged in a new DVD player, causing a short circuit.

Since the workers had all fled, the man responsible for the fire might be difficult to apprehend, he added.