Santika owner to be charged with allowing minor to the pub

They also ordered club manager Suriya Ritrabeu to provide information as a witness on Monday.

Visuk postponed his meeting with police because he had not yet recovered from an injury sustained in the fire.

Deputy Police CommissionerGeneral Pol General Jongrak Juthanon yesterday said that 21 bodies burnt beyond recognition had yet to be identified. He said police had interviewed 25 witnesses and the club owner would face the charge of admitting minors.

He added that an investiga¬tion into the club's history had found that its application for a licence on December 26, 2004 had been turned down by the city police on the grounds that the premises did not conform to standards but it had opened anyway on the strength of an Administration Court injunc¬tion pending a ruling.

Meanwhile Agence FrancePresse yesterday quoted Chinese state media as reporting that the Chinese government would provide Thailand with $500,000 (Bt17.3 mil¬lion) in humanitarian aid to buy medicine for victims of the club fire and that Chinese skingrafting experts had offered to treat victims.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi sent condolences to his Thai counterpart Kasit Piromya over the incident.

Narenthorn Emergency Centre secretarygeneral Dr Chatree Charoenchevakul reported that 24yearold victim Duanpen Phromthong had succumbed to injuries on Thursday night, bringing the death toll to 59. Eightysix injured were treated at Bangkok hospitals, 38 of them remaining in intensive care, he said. Of the 41 injured foreigners, 20 have been discharged.

The Singaporean Embassy yesterday reported that two Singaporeans remained missing since the fire.

Pol LtGeneral Danaithorn Wongthai, chief of the Office of Police Forensic Science, said a victimidentification unit had been set up for victims' relatives at Thong Lor Police Station to coordinate with Chulalongkorn Hospital's Forensic Department. He urged relatives to bring ID card copies, toothbrushes or combs to help police and urged that directbloodline relatives such as parents should provide DNA samples. He said identification was problematic due to lack of documents.

The Police morgue yester¬day was a spectacle of grief as relatives tearfully claimed loved ones' bodies, some telling reporters that valuables were missing. Twenty identified bodies were waiting to be claimed, while DNA samples had been collected from 21 unidentified charred bodies.

Of the 16 bodies in Chulalongkorn Hospital morgue, five unidentified females will be transferred to the Police morgue.

Families and friends of vic¬tims gathered yesterday morn¬ing at the gutted club for prayers for the spirits of the dead.

Interior minister Chavarat Charnvirakul, who visited the injured in Chulalongkorn Hospital yesterday, said he had instructed the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to randomly check nightclubs, suspend licences of those in breach of building safety standards and get tough on those admitting underage tourists.

Deputy BMA clerk Wanwilai Phromlakkhano said Wattana district would be sending a report on the Santika fire, covering the building licence, structural modifications and help given to the victims, to BMA clerk Wongsak Semsan on Monday. She said initial inquiries indicated that the club had obtained the correct building permit and been erected in 2003, though its operation licence was subject to police authority.

Makkasan police late on Thursday night checked whether pubs at RCA met safe¬ty standards.

A fire broke out at the Low High nightclub on Soi Sukhumvit 23 (Khao Boi) in the early hours of yesterday. No deaths or injuries were reported because the fire, which took 30 minutes to put out, began after the club was closed when a short circuit sent sparks onto Christmastree decorations.