Families of Singaporean victims in BKK to claim bodies

Air traffic controller Leslie Yeo Bee Soon, 40, and undergraduate Lu Weiye, 26, were identified through DNA testing and partial dental records and confirmed dead by Thai authorities on Sunday.

They were among 64 people, including Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) officer Teo Sze Siong, 38, killed in the New Year blaze, which also injured 229 others who included three Singaporeans.

Yeo and Lu had been unaccounted for until the weekend.

Their families left Singapore on Monday morning and arrived in Bangkok shortly after noon. They headed straight for the mortuary of the Police General Hospital hospital at about 1.30 pm (Singapore time), and were joined shortly after by the victims' friends who have flown to Bangkok a few days ago to help in the search.

The families are settling some paperwork at the Thong Lor police station and are expected to collect the bodies of the two men later on Monday.

They were among the last few bodies left in the Bangkok mortuary which were still unidentified as of this morning.

Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said on Sunday it has been in contact with the next-of-kin and will arrange for them to travel to Bangkok.

The MFA and its Embassy in Bangkok will assist with the repatriation of the bodies of Lu and Yeo, the ministry said in a statement.

Three Singaporeans were also injured in the early-morning blaze with two of them still warded in hospital.

One of the club owners has given himself up to police and promised to set up a compensation fund of Bt2 million, local television reported.

Police intend to charge the nightclub owners with not ensuring safety and allowing under-age people into the club, the television said.

The Santika nightclub in a trendy Bangkok neighbourhood was popular with both foreigners and high-society Thais.

Among the dead already identified was another Singaporean man, identified as Teo Sze Siong. At least 20 foreigners from Japan, Australia, France and the United States had to be treated in hospital, according to emergency services.

The cause of the fire was still not clear, Deputy National Police Chief Chongrak Chutanont said on Friday. Witnesses said it was caused by fireworks and media reported it was due to an electrical fault.