Thai club fire death toll hits 62
Posted: 04 January 2009 1316 hrs

	Photos  of
	Related News • Body of Singaporean killed in Bangkok blaze to be flown back • S'pore toll from Santika Club fire goes up: 1 dead, 3 injured, 2 missing • PM Lee extends condolences to families of victims of Bangkok blaze • Survivors recall horror of Bangkok blaze as mourners pray

BANGKOK - The death toll from the New Year's fire that tore through a Bangkok nightclub has risen to 62, emergency services said Sunday, as police tried to track down the disco's owners for questioning.

The 62nd victim was a woman who succumbed to her burns on Saturday, the services said in a statement.

Of the 229 people injured when the blaze engulfed the Santika club in the Thai capital, 32 are in intensive care fighting for their lives, they said.

Early police reports suggested the fire might have been caused by a pyrotechnics display during the countdown to 2009, but officials are also investigating wiring in the club and sparklers handed out to guests.

Police told AFP they had summoned 13 directors of the club for questioning.

"So far none of them have appeared, but they have until Wednesday," Colonel Sutin Sabphaeung said, adding that more than 100 eyewitnesses were being questioned.

Police say Santika had been refused an operating licence since 2004 because of safety concerns, but it remained legally open while appealing that decision.

- AFP/ir