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Published on September 6, 2007

He also defended municipal firemen with 80 engines as doing their best under difficult conditions due to the hotel's location on Rama IV Road.

The blaze broke out on the second of the building's 12 floors shortly after midnight, forcing some 500 guests in 372 rooms to flee. Firemen and rescuers had trouble saving them, as the flames spread to upper floors, due to narrow fire exits.

Helicopters that rushed to the scene flew helplessly overhead as the hotel's two connected buildings had no place for them to land. Many tourists were seen trying to jump from the 10th and 11th floors, prompting firemen to calm them and rush rescue teams to evacuate them down to the ground.

Altogether 16 foreign tourists were overcome from inhaling smoke. Five remained hospitalised while the others were released. Many tourists said the hotel's fire alarm and sprinklers did not work.

Apirak, who inspected the scene sealed off as a danger zone, said officials from the Thai Civil Engineer Society and Scientific Crime Detection Division would inspect the hotel's structure and safety measures and look for the cause of the fire.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's Public Works Department, Bang Rak district, Tourism Police and embassies will assist the injured tourists. Other guests will be transferred to other hotels of the Mandarin group or, if they wished to stay somewhere else, the company will pay their bills, Apirak said.

The rescue operation was complicated because the area was crowded and the fire started late at night when guests had to be woken up, Apirak said, adding he believed his officials did their best.

He said he would also ask members of the Thai Hotel Association to reassess their buildings' strength and review safety measures, including water sprinklers and fire alarms as required by law.

Later yesterday, Bang Rak district chief Pimolrat Wong-rak said officials and civil engineers went to inspect the fire scene but could not access the area because water had still to be drained out of the building.

An initial report showed the fire-ravaged area covered 300-400 square metres.

Pimolrat said the hotel had a fire-warning system and sprinklers in place, but the BMA and civil engineers would need to assess whether they worked. She said guests had moved their belongings out of the Mandarin Hotel and moved other hotels. Tawanna Hotel took more than 60 of the evacuated people and others went to nearby hotels.

Officials were assessing the exact number of affected guests so that they could contact their embassies and provide assistance.

Deputy Bangkok Governor Wallop Suwandee said the conflagration escalated quickly because of the hotel's flammable materials, wood furniture and carpets. He said he was not sure if the hotel's building design was illegal because it was built before the Control of Building Act of 1979.

Bang Rak Police Station superintendent Santi Jikangwal said two hotel workers were summoned and police found the fire started at a storage area on the second floor, which was being renovated as a cafe and had been locked since 9pm.

Lt-Colonel Chakarin Panthong said: "The initial assumption is that it was an electrical short-circuit that sparked the fire."

Reverend Prasartpong Pansuay, pastor of Sam Yan Church, said the church had opened up to provide temporary shelter for some 500 tourists driven out by the fire.

Mandarin Hotel said in a filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand that the company was not yet able to conclude the damage cost.

However, the property is insured by Bangkok Insurance for Bt500 million, it said. The company could not set a date for resuming the hotel's operation but said it would reopen as soon as possible.

Its stock trading was halted in the morning yesterday and resumed in the afternoon. Its shares ended the day at Bt24.90, an increase of 30 satang.

The Mandarin Hotel has two buildings, the Mandarin building and the Princess building. The area affected by the fire was the storage and fitness room, which is on the crossway of the two buildings, and the left wing of the Princess building. The Princess building has 14 floors and 216 rooms.

The hotel company's managing director is Songpon Asavabhokin, the elder brother of Anant Asavabhokin, chairman and president of Land & Houses.

The Nation