Bangkok hotel fire injures several tourists, causes evacuation

Several visitors were injured when fire broke out at a high-rise hotel in Bangkok’s main tourist district.

Firefighters who went to the Grand Park Avenue Bangkok hotel shortly before 10pm local time on Thursday were able to get the small blaze under control, but smoke billowed into the upper floors, overcoming some guests with smoke inhalation.

Scores of people were evacuated, some by cranes, and rescue teams treated at least a dozen people with resuscitators. Reports in Thai media of at least one death were not confirmed.

Local district chief Wiparat Chaiyanukit told Spring News TV the fire started on the fourth floor of the 15-floor building and sent suffocating smoke to upper floors. She said the cause of the fire remained unknown and the building will be sealed off for investigators to find out.

The mid-range hotel, formerly known as the Grand Mercure Park Avenue, has 221 rooms and is located off Sukhumvit Road, a tourist and residential district popular with foreigners.

On Saturday, a major fire broke out at an office building in a nearby neighbourhood, doing major damage but causing no deaths.