A fire broke out at the Chatuchak weekend market in Bangkok late last night, destroying or damaging 28 stores before it was brought under control by firefighters. No one was hurt.
Kiattisak Sukharaj, the chief security officer, told police investigators that one of his men on duty at the market noticed the smell of something burning coming from ‘Project 17’ of the market and went to investigate.
He saw flames in Soi 9/2 and immediately grabbed a portable fire extinguisher to try to put out the fire, but failed. He made an emergency call for help. More than 20 fire trucks rushed to the scene and it took about 15 minutes to get the fire under control.
Many stores, mostly selling ceramic products and garments, were damaged and some were destroyed.
Kiattisak reportedly said that another fire, suspected to have been caused by an electrical short circuit, occurred last Saturday night near the scene of last night’s blaze, but only a surveillance camera was damaged.
The cause of the fire is being investigated.
