Another building in Bangkok burned last night March 8, as a fire was reported around 9:40pm at the Grand Park Avenue Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 22.
The hotel is the second major building in Bangkok to catch fire in less than a week after a fire occurred on the upper floors of the Fico Place building on Sukhumvit Soi 21 on March 3.
There are disparate reports as to the casualties from the fire at the Grand Park Avenue. A firefighter told the Bangkok Post that two foreigners died: One an Asian man who was found on the seventh floor, the other a Western woman who jumped from the sixth floor into a swimming pool. The Nation reported that one person was killed. TANN tweeted just a few minutes ago that one Russian woman was confirmed dead.
Bangkok Metropolitan Police deputy commander Pol Maj-Gen Anuchai Lekbumrung said that the fire may have been caused by an electrical short circuit, MCOT reported. He said that the blaze began on the fourth floor in a banquet room area.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has declared the Grand Park Avenue Hotel an off-limit zone and is awaiting the verification from the Public Works Department as to the safety of the structure and its sprinkler system.
