Nine-year-old survives Phuket fire

PHUKET: A young boy escaped a fire that gutted his house on Tuesday morning near the Rajabhat Junction in Phuket Town.

The fire caused at least 300,000 baht worth of damages, while the 9-year-old sustained minor injuries.

“At about 9:30am, we received reports of a single story house on fire about 20 meters away from local Member of Parliment (MP) Anchalee Vanich Thepabutra’s home,” said Lt Col Sakchai Chunyong of the Phuket City Police. “The fire took about 15 minutes to extinguish.”

The owner of the house, Nattawut Eakvanich, 37, is a construction worker. There was paint thinner and gas tanks also present inside, which allowed the fire to continue and destroy most of his belongings.

“Mr Nattawut was not present at the house, and his son called him when the fire started. We believe it was caused by an electrical short circuit,” the colonel said.

The boy was taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital to treat the wound on his right hand.

— Kritsada Mueanhawong