PHUKET: Charges of negligence causing death and injury are to be laid over Phuket's Tiger Discotheque blaze in which four people were killed, police revealed today.
Police Superintendent Colonel Jirapat Polchanaphan said that Tiger Group owner Piya Isaramalai and the Tiger Group's parent company, Sara Entertainment Co Ltd, each faced two charges.
''We have informed the suspects of the charges against them and we are now compiling our evidence to hand over to the Public Prosecutor,'' said Colonel Jirapat, Superintendent of Kathu Police Station, which oversees Patong, Phuket's west coast nightclub hub.
The blaze broke out inside the disco on Patong's Soi Bangla strip about 3.55am on August 17, killing British tourist Michael Tzouvanni, 24, French tourist Emmanuel Becard, 30, and two Thai women, Nipawat Sutasorn, 36, and Dongporn Budkor, 32.
Khun Piya and the Tiger Group's parent company are also to be charged with staying open beyond trading hours.
Khun Piya went to Patong police soon after the inferno destroyed the nightclub and was questioned for 12 hours. He said he was in the discotheque at the time and among those who fled for their lives.
Eleven people were injured as they fled, the most serious Frenchman Benjamin Tallanotte, 30, who suffered second degree burns to 40 percent of his body. He has since been repatriated.
It is believed that foam insulation fed the blaze and hastened the spread of the smoke that asphyxiated the victims.
Sixty-six people died and more than 200 were injured when a fire broke out in the Santika Pub in central Bangkok as people were welcoming in the new year early on January 1, 2009.
Police Superintendent Colonel Jirapat Polchanaphan said that Tiger Group owner Piya Isaramalai and the Tiger Group's parent company, Sara Entertainment Co Ltd, each faced two charges.
''We have informed the suspects of the charges against them and we are now compiling our evidence to hand over to the Public Prosecutor,'' said Colonel Jirapat, Superintendent of Kathu Police Station, which oversees Patong, Phuket's west coast nightclub hub.
The blaze broke out inside the disco on Patong's Soi Bangla strip about 3.55am on August 17, killing British tourist Michael Tzouvanni, 24, French tourist Emmanuel Becard, 30, and two Thai women, Nipawat Sutasorn, 36, and Dongporn Budkor, 32.
Khun Piya and the Tiger Group's parent company are also to be charged with staying open beyond trading hours.
Khun Piya went to Patong police soon after the inferno destroyed the nightclub and was questioned for 12 hours. He said he was in the discotheque at the time and among those who fled for their lives.
Eleven people were injured as they fled, the most serious Frenchman Benjamin Tallanotte, 30, who suffered second degree burns to 40 percent of his body. He has since been repatriated.
It is believed that foam insulation fed the blaze and hastened the spread of the smoke that asphyxiated the victims.
Sixty-six people died and more than 200 were injured when a fire broke out in the Santika Pub in central Bangkok as people were welcoming in the new year early on January 1, 2009.
My sincere wish is that the accused receive fair and swift justice.
They deserve to be treated by all as innocent until proven guilty but if found guilty should suffer the full force of the law.
Posted by Arthur on October 2, 2012 22:16