Big fire behind Walking Street in Pattaya contained
Thanasap Noisa-ard
The Nation
October 23, 2013 1:00 am
Five commercial buildings including a construction shop were damaged by a fire that broke out yesterday afternoon in the Walking Street area in southern Pattaya.
But there were no deaths and just one man - a rescue worker - suffered a minor leg injury.
The total damage bill was initially put at over Bt10 million.
The fire started at about 3pm in a back storage room where thinner and other highly flammable chemicals were stored. There were reports of explosions, which attracted about 30 fire engines and many fire fighters to put the fire out.
It took them two hours to get the blaze under control.
Phuket's biggest ever fire at the main SuperCheap store has finally been extinguished and the area sealed off for 45 days, pending probes by police and other agencies and a clean-up by municipal officials.
So far, all people reported missing at the time have been found and a search of 95 per cent of the site has not revealed any bodies.
A meeting, presided over by Phuket Governor Maitree Inthusut, was told some 67 affected people had registered for help.
Phuket official Suwimol Saelim told the meeting that the store was insured for fire with two companies for Bt620 million in total.