The Santika Club fire occurred on Thursday 1 January 2009, in the Santika Club
nightclub
A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music.
Nightclubs gener ...
in
Ekkamai 250px, Ekkamai Rd
Ekkamai Road ( th, ถนนเอกมัย, , ; often popularly referred to as Ekkamai; also spelled: Ekamai), officially named Soi Sukhumvit 63 (), is a '' soi'' in the form of road, and the name of the surrounding its locati ...
,
Watthana,
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...
,
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
, where
New Year
New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...
celebrations were taking place. A total of 66 people were killed and another 222 injured when fire swept through the nightclub during the New Year's celebration as a band, coincidentally called "Burn", was playing.
[Disturbing details in Thai blaze inquiry](_blank)
''BBC News'', 4 April 2009 By another coincidence, the party was named "Santika's Last Night". The fire broke out
at 00:35.
and citizens of thirteen countries
were among the injured.
Fire
No official cause for the Santika fire has been announced by investigators. Suggested causes include outdoor
fireworks
Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large number of devices ...
that set the roof on fire, sparklers lighted inside the nightclub,
or an electrical explosion.
One witness stated there were no pyrotechnics in the club,
while another reported seeing flames on the roof after going outside to watch the midnight fireworks display.
Video recordings of the indoor stage event, including the countdown to midnight, show that only ordinary holiday sparklers were used. Moreover, the fire became visible indoors approximately 10 minutes after midnight. This strongly suggests the fire originated inside the ceiling space or on the roof, allowing it to grow in intensity while going unnoticed for some time. Due to the lax enforcement of building regulations, tar paper and plastic are often used as waterproofing materials. Santika only had one main exit, with an additional private staff exit.
A third exit was locked to prevent robberies.
Victims
Around 1,000 guests and employees were in the club when it burned, and deaths occurred from
smoke inhalation
Smoke inhalation is the breathing in of harmful fumes (produced as by-products of combusting substances) through the respiratory tract. This can cause smoke inhalation injury (subtype of acute inhalation injury) which is damage to the respirator ...
,
burn
A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur ma ...
s and being crushed during a
stampede
A stampede () is a situation in which a group of large animals suddenly start running in the same direction, especially because they are excited or frightened. Non-human species associated with stampede behavior include zebras, cattle, elephants ...
for the exit.
Doctors stated that fumes from burning plastic could have caused people to faint after a few minutes.
The injured were taken to 19 hospitals,
with most taken to
Bangkok Hospital.
More than 100 other people were injured in this incident. Only 29 of the 61 bodies were immediately identified, of these 28 were Thais and the other a Singaporean.
The bodies of those who died were wrapped in white cloth and placed in the club's car park pending removal.
It took up to a week to identify the others because of extensive burns to their bodies.
Investigations and criminal proceedings
Pongsak Kasemsan, an official in Bangkok, ordered a preliminary investigation, with results by 4 January.
After a preliminary inspection of the club's safety system, it was declared "substandard" by police Lieut. Gen. Jongrak Jutanont.
It was revealed the club only had one
fire extinguisher
A fire extinguisher is a handheld active fire protection device usually filled with a dry or wet chemical used to extinguish or control small fires, often in emergencies. It is not intended for use on an out-of-control fire, such as one which ha ...
, and that the nightclub was registered as a food vendor (restaurant), meaning it was required by law to close at midnight.
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
Abhisit Vejjajiva visited the site and said, "The question is why they let someone take fireworks inside the pub and light them up."
Two parallel investigations were launched, one by the police, and one by the
Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry.
Lists of current ministries of justice
Named "Ministry"
* Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia)
* Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan)
* Ministry of Just ...
. The police blamed the lead singer of "Burn" for setting off fireworks on stage, and the club owner for recklessness and for illegally admitting people under the age of 19. The Ministry of Justice investigation discovered the nightclub was officially registered as a private residence and therefore had never received a fire safety inspection. It was also in a zone where nightclubs are prohibited and the city architect's signature approving the club's design had been forged. Between 2004 and 2006, police had filed 47 charges against the club's owners for illegal operation. After that, however, no charges were filed. Suspicions of corruption were raised when one of the co-owners was identified as a senior police officer. When the Ministry of Justice investigation was turned over to the police, sources close to the minister reported he was furious.
[
The owner of the Santika Club was charged, along with twelve other directors. The owner was also charged with allowing an underage customer into the club after a 17-year-old student's body was recovered. He faced a further charge of carelessness resulting in death.]gross negligence
Gross negligence is the "lack of slight diligence or care" or "a conscious, voluntary act or omission in reckless disregard of a legal duty and of the consequences to another party." In some jurisdictions a person injured as a result of gross negl ...
. On 25 April 2014, the Southern Bangkok Criminal Court found Setsawat guilty of excise tax violations and sentenced him to one year in prison.
In November 2015, club owner Wisuk Setsawat was jailed for three years.
Aftermath
The ruins of the club was promptly demolished and the site left vacant for over a decade, seeing brief use as a banana farm in 2020 before major redevelopment commenced in 2021. The @Ekkamai Lifestyle Mall currently occupies the site of the club.
In popular culture
*'' Modernine TV'' discussed Santika Club fire in the TimeLine on 30 March 2015 titled "Countdown Death Santika".ข่าวดังข้ามเวลา : เคาท์ดาวน์มรณะ ซานติก้าผับ (30 มี.ค.58)
/ref>
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santika Club Fire
2009 fires in Asia
January 2009 events in Thailand
Concert disasters
Fire disasters involving barricaded escape routes
Fires in Thailand
Nightclub fires started by pyrotechnics
2009 disasters in Thailand