Bangkok bar fire: Witnesses describe how deadly inferno swept through ‘maze-like’ bar

Thai indie band Thotsakan were performing at a crowded bar in Bangkok on Sunday when band manager Ice Athipat Wijarn saw smoke billowing from behind the keyboardist as he sat offstage.

Keyboardist Kwang shouted for people to flee, and within seconds a raging fire ripped through Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao in the city’s bustling Chatuchak district.

Ice remembers struggling with the door of the smoke-covered room while trying to escape.

“Everyone was running, squeezing together,” he told Thai talk show Hone-Krasae. He crawled towards the exit – then something exploded and threw him out of the bar.

At least 27 people died and dozens were injured in the fire, authorities confirmed Monday.

According to a Facebook post by another member of the band, Patchara Songphatkaew, Kwang, along with Thotsakan’s female singer Breeze and drummer Bew, died from their injuries.

The whereabouts of male singer Din are not yet known.

“Maybe a miracle will happen,” Patchara wrote. “Let’s pray everything goes well.”

According to Thai media reports, Thotsakan’s lead singer Tik Chaichana managed to escape unhurt because he went to the toilet right before the fire broke out. Online videos showed him crying as he ran away from the burning bar.

“I’m safe, thank you everyone for your concern. But my phone and all my belongings were burned… I’m really not in the best of mind right now,” Tik wrote in a Facebook post.