Police are today expected to interview the owner of a Bangkok nightclub where at least 62 people died in a fire on New Year’s Eve.
Thirteen people are due to be interviewed, including the managers and employees of a company hired to put on a countdown fireworks display on the stage of the Santika Club.
The death toll rose by one to 62 today, with 31 others in a critical condition having suffered burns over 70 per cent of their bodies, according to Narenthorn Emergency Centre.
Many people were killed or injured as hundreds of people stampeded for the club's single exit when the fire broke out.
No charges relating to the fire have yet been filed but the owner, Thai-Chinese businessman Wisuth Setsawat, was initially charged with allowing in underage customers after a 17-year-old high school student was found among the dead.
One Bangkok radio station said Mr Wisuth would present himself to police later today. Local newspapers said he had earlier asked police to delay his interrogation until he recovers from his own injuries.
Police Lt Gen Boonruang Polpanich said the cause of the fire has not yet been determined. "There will have to be several more site inspections to get as clear a picture as possible," he told reporters.
A total of 78 patients, including 47 in a stable condition, were still being treated at Bangkok hospitals, 17 of them foreigners, the centre said. One Singaporean was confirmed dead.
Nine severely burned and disfigured bodies had yet to be identified.
AP
