PHUKET: The four Tiger Disco inferno victims on Phuket are being reported today by a Thai news agency to probably be a Thai, a French person, and two English people.
The nationalities of the dead are based on missing people reports, according to MCOT, the Thai Government news agency.
The brother of one British man, missing on Phuket since Thursday, has flown to Phuket, Phuketwan has been able to confirm. He and other relatives of missing people are having DNA tests today.
Phuket policeman Lieutenant Jongsorm Preecha said today that the family of the French person is to announce within hours that one relative is among the dead.
Phuketwan is seeking confirmation from other sources that two English people were victims of Friday morning's inferno at the after-hours disco in Patong, Phuket's west coast holiday hub.
What can be reported with greater certainty is that two British families have reported family members unaccounted for on Phuket.
Previously, Phuket police suggested that the four victims were a Frenchman, a Japanese man and two Thais.
However, in response to a plea for resorts, guesthouses and the public to come forward with details of missing people, Phuket police now have more people reported missing by relatives and friends than they have bodies.
DNA tests on the charred and unrecognisable remains of the four dead are the only conclusive evidence of identification.
That process will begin today in Bangkok at the Police General Hospital, where the bodies have been taken.
One Frenchman, Benjamin Tallanotte, 30, remains the only survivor in hospital on Phuket, with second degree burns to 40 percent of his body.
It is believed he was with the French person killed when the blaze broke out in the crowded disco about 3.55am on Friday morning, almost two hours after nightclubs on Phuket are supposed to close.
Mr Tallanotte had been travelling around Asia with six other members of his family. It's likely that one family member will become the first official victim today.
The present situation with more potential victims than there are bodies mirrors the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami on Phuket and the Andaman holiday coast when thousands of tourists and Thais were reported ''missing.''
Because more than half the 5400 tsunami victims could not be identified, it took an international team of investigators months to conclusively match most of the bodies using DNA, fingerprints and dental records.
A senior Thai government spokesperson who visited the charred Tiger Disco yesterday said results of a preliminary investigation into the building's paperwork and safety provisions will be revealed on Monday.
The nationalities of the dead are based on missing people reports, according to MCOT, the Thai Government news agency.
The brother of one British man, missing on Phuket since Thursday, has flown to Phuket, Phuketwan has been able to confirm. He and other relatives of missing people are having DNA tests today.
Phuket policeman Lieutenant Jongsorm Preecha said today that the family of the French person is to announce within hours that one relative is among the dead.
Phuketwan is seeking confirmation from other sources that two English people were victims of Friday morning's inferno at the after-hours disco in Patong, Phuket's west coast holiday hub.
What can be reported with greater certainty is that two British families have reported family members unaccounted for on Phuket.
Previously, Phuket police suggested that the four victims were a Frenchman, a Japanese man and two Thais.
However, in response to a plea for resorts, guesthouses and the public to come forward with details of missing people, Phuket police now have more people reported missing by relatives and friends than they have bodies.
DNA tests on the charred and unrecognisable remains of the four dead are the only conclusive evidence of identification.
That process will begin today in Bangkok at the Police General Hospital, where the bodies have been taken.
One Frenchman, Benjamin Tallanotte, 30, remains the only survivor in hospital on Phuket, with second degree burns to 40 percent of his body.
It is believed he was with the French person killed when the blaze broke out in the crowded disco about 3.55am on Friday morning, almost two hours after nightclubs on Phuket are supposed to close.
Mr Tallanotte had been travelling around Asia with six other members of his family. It's likely that one family member will become the first official victim today.
The present situation with more potential victims than there are bodies mirrors the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami on Phuket and the Andaman holiday coast when thousands of tourists and Thais were reported ''missing.''
Because more than half the 5400 tsunami victims could not be identified, it took an international team of investigators months to conclusively match most of the bodies using DNA, fingerprints and dental records.
A senior Thai government spokesperson who visited the charred Tiger Disco yesterday said results of a preliminary investigation into the building's paperwork and safety provisions will be revealed on Monday.
