300 Bangkok slum houses burnt down
A huge fire swept through a squatter community in Klong Toey early Tuesday morning, causing some 300 families to be homeless.
The fire started at 1:15 am and burnt down some 300 houses in about 4-rai area in the Soi-1 Klong Toey community on At Narong Road before being contained. A resident was slightly injured, police said. Police said the fire started from the house of Kitti sae Lim and he would be taken for questioning. His neighbours alleged that he set fire to his house following a quarrel with his wife. The neighbours said the man became angry after finding his wife sleeping with another man in his shanty house. Fire fighters backed up by some 30 fire trucks took about three hours to control the blaze. When the fire was ranging on, explosions of cooking gas tanks were heard now and then. Fire trucks found it difficult to reach the fire scene because the part of the At Narong expressway was occupied by many vehicles left parking there. They had to use long hoses from the trucks to douse the fire. Some trucks went up on the expressway to douse the fire from the above. Two lanes on the expressway were closed to traffic. The Klong Toey district office put up temporary shelters for the homeless families to stay inside the compound of the Klong Toey flat. District officials said each family would receive a primary compensation of Bt3,000. The Nation
|
