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PussyLover 69
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Report from The Nation dated Wednesday 5 September 2007 :-
Gutted Mandarin Hotel on Rama IV Road
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Fire broke out at The Mandarin Hotel on Rama IV Road in Bangkok, damaging the buidling and injuring many tourists. The Polish Embassy is located in Soi Sukhumvit 5 of Bangkok's Watana District
The incident took place at around midnigh when the blaze began on the second floor of the hotel's second building and spread to other floors where tourists were trapped. The hotel consists of two building - the first seven-storey building and the other 14 storey building. There are 372 buildings in total.
The fire damaged the building and the links between the building on the 7th and 8th floor were collapsed, making it difficult for rescue staff. A lot of tourists have been evacuated from the buildings but some people were still trapped in the building.
The blaze has not yet been under control by the press time.
An initial report said the fire took place in the vacant room on the second floor that was under renovation.
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Posted on: 9:03 pm on Sep. 4, 2007
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PussyLover 69
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Report from The Nation dated Wednesday 5 September 2007 :-
Fire at Mandarin Hotel under control
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Fire that broke out at the Mandarin Hotel on Rama IV Road early Tuesday morning has been put under control at about 8pm.
Some 16 tourists were injured from inhaling smoke from the blaze.
Initial police investigation found that the blaze started from the seven-storey hotel's second floor where a fitness room is located.
Firefighters and rescue teams found difficulties in rescuing hundreds of tourists as the fire spread to other floors due to narrow fire exits.
Helicopters that rushed to the hotel helplessly flied over the hotel because the hotel which had two connected building had no landing area.
As the fire spread to other floors, many tourists were trapped inside the building. Many tourists were seen trying to jump from the tenth and eleventh floors. Firefighters had to calm them down and rushed rescue team to evacuate them down to the floor.
The hotel consists of two building - the first seven-storey building and the other 14 storey building. There are 372 rooms in total. The fire fighters checked room by room to make sure that there was no tourists trapped inside the rooms.
The fire damaged the building and the links between the building on the 7th and 8th floor were collapsed, making it difficult for rescue staff.
Many tourists said that the hotel's water sprinkles did not work when the fire broke out.was not equipped with water sprinkles to distinguish the blaze.
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Posted on: 9:20 pm on Sep. 4, 2007
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PussyLover 69
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Report from The Nation dated Wednesday 5 September 2007 :-
Apirak full of praise for firemen in hotel blaze
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Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin Wednesdsay instructed engineers to inspect Bangkok's Mandarin Hotel for structural stability after a pre-dawn fire ripped through it for four hours.Published on September 6, 2007
He also defended municipal firemen with 80 engines as doing their best under difficult conditions due to the hotel's location on Rama IV Road.
The blaze broke out on the second of the building's 12 floors shortly after midnight, forcing some 500 guests in 372 rooms to flee. Firemen and rescuers had trouble saving them, as the flames spread to upper floors, due to narrow fire exits.
Helicopters that rushed to the scene flew helplessly overhead as the hotel's two connected buildings had no place for them to land. Many tourists were seen trying to jump from the 10th and 11th floors, prompting firemen to calm them and rush rescue teams to evacuate them down to the ground.
Altogether 16 foreign tourists were overcome from inhaling smoke. Five remained hospitalised while the others were released. Many tourists said the hotel's fire alarm and sprinklers did not work.
Apirak, who inspected the scene sealed off as a danger zone, said officials from the Thai Civil Engineer Society and Scientific Crime Detection Division would inspect the hotel's structure and safety measures and look for the cause of the fire.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's Public Works Department, Bang Rak district, Tourism Police and embassies will assist the injured tourists. Other guests will be transferred to other hotels of the Mandarin group or, if they wished to stay somewhere else, the company will pay their bills, Apirak said.
The rescue operation was complicated because the area was crowded and the fire started late at night when guests had to be woken up, Apirak said, adding he believed his officials did their best.
He said he would also ask members of the Thai Hotel Association to reassess their buildings' strength and review safety measures, including water sprinklers and fire alarms as required by law.
Later yesterday, Bang Rak district chief Pimolrat Wong-rak said officials and civil engineers went to inspect the fire scene but could not access the area because water had still to be drained out of the building.
An initial report showed the fire-ravaged area covered 300-400 square metres.
Pimolrat said the hotel had a fire-warning system and sprinklers in place, but the BMA and civil engineers would need to assess whether they worked. She said guests had moved their belongings out of the Mandarin Hotel and moved other hotels. Tawanna Hotel took more than 60 of the evacuated people and others went to nearby hotels.
Officials were assessing the exact number of affected guests so that they could contact their embassies and provide assistance.
Deputy Bangkok Governor Wallop Suwandee said the conflagration escalated quickly because of the hotel's flammable materials, wood furniture and carpets. He said he was not sure if the hotel's building design was illegal because it was built before the Control of Building Act of 1979.
Bang Rak Police Station superintendent Santi Jikangwal said two hotel workers were summoned and police found the fire started at a storage area on the second floor, which was being renovated as a cafe and had been locked since 9pm.
Lt-Colonel Chakarin Panthong said: "The initial assumption is that it was an electrical short-circuit that sparked the fire."
Reverend Prasartpong Pansuay, pastor of Sam Yan Church, said the church had opened up to provide temporary shelter for some 500 tourists driven out by the fire.
Mandarin Hotel said in a filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand that the company was not yet able to conclude the damage cost.
However, the property is insured by Bangkok Insurance for Bt500 million, it said. The company could not set a date for resuming the hotel's operation but said it would reopen as soon as possible.
Its stock trading was halted in the morning yesterday and resumed in the afternoon. Its shares ended the day at Bt24.90, an increase of 30 satang.
The Mandarin Hotel has two buildings, the Mandarin building and the Princess building. The area affected by the fire was the storage and fitness room, which is on the crossway of the two buildings, and the left wing of the Princess building. The Princess building has 14 floors and 216 rooms.
The hotel company's managing director is Songpon Asavabhokin, the elder brother of Anant Asavabhokin, chairman and president of Land & Houses.
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Posted on: 9:45 am on Sep. 5, 2007
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PussyLover 69
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Report from Bangkok Post dated Thursday 6 September 2007 :-
Hotel had no sprinkler system
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The old Mandarin hotel was declared a danger zone yesterday after a fire in the early hours of yesterday morning sent hundreds of foreign guests fleeing. Sixteen were treated for smoke inhalation, with five remaining in hospital last night.
Police said the 30-year-old building on Rama IV road in Bang Rak, had no water sprinkler system.
The blaze had started on the second-floor and smoke spread quickly to the 10th floor.
About 400 guests were evacuated.
The blaze took nearly four hours to bring under control.
The Mandarin hotel management said the fire affected a storage area, a fitness room and one wing of a connected building.
Police were investigating the cause, but said an initial investigation showed a short-circuit was responsible.
The flame- and smoked-scarred structure was declared off limits after an inspection by Bangkok Metropolitan Administration safety officers yesterday.
Bang Rak police chief Santi Jeekangwan said guests had not been allowed back into the building to get their belongings.
They must wait until it was declared safe by city public works department building inspectors.
Initial estimates put the damage to the hotel at 100 million baht.
The fire in the 372-room hotel started shortly after midnight.
Police evacuated the hotel guests to a nearby Christian church, known as Saphan Lueang, before they were found accommodation at other hotels owned by the Mandarin group.
The Mandarin hotel comprises two buildings. The fire started in the rear building.
Bang Rak police said Prasit Pantharuea, a 32-year-old room attendant, was the first to see the fire as flames spread through the hotel's fitness room, and he spread the alarm.
Security officers and other staff exhausted 10 fire extinguishers trying to put out the blaze but to no avail and the flames quickly spread along the hotel's carpeted floors.
About 40 fire engines were called to the scene. Because of the lack of a sprinkler system it was four hours before the fire was declared out.
Danish tourist Martin Andersen, 27, from Copenhagen, said there was no fire alarm. His girlfriend Gitte Christensen, 27, called the situation ''chaotic''.
''This has been handled very, very badly in my opinion. There is just nobody in charge,'' said George Adigun, 39, a commodities consultant from London. ''There is no evacuation point. No one from the hotel has come out to tell us what is happening.''
Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin said City Hall yesterday asked the Thai Hotel Association to come up with measures to ensure safe structures and effective warning systems in hotels, particularly in old hotel buildings.
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Posted on: 5:49 pm on Sep. 5, 2007
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Shredded Wheat
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Scary stuff. Especially the video clip of the couple on the window ledge outside their room hanging on for dear life as they try to escape the fire and smoke.
The Mandarin is the first hotel I stayed at in Thailand when I first visited LOS in May 1996. I have stayed there 3 or 4 times since then although not in recent years. Because of that I have nostalgic memories of the place.
Although it sounds like the hotel was a fire disaster waiting to happen my memories of the place are happy ones.
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Posted on: 2:29 pm on Sep. 6, 2007
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PussyLover 69
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Report from Bangkok Post dated Friday 7 September 2007 :-
Mandarin hotel insists fire alarms did work during blaze -City investigation into lack of sprinkler system
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The management of the Mandarin hotel insisted yesterday the fire alarm system worked well during Wednesday morning's blaze. Sirikul Kraibun, the public relations manager, said the alarms on all 14 floors of the building which caught fire were fully functional.
The blaze also damaged another building in the front of the hotel complex.
Ms Sirikul said some hotel guests may have thought the alarms were faulty because most were fast asleep when they went off.
Hotel staff also knocked on the door of every room to ensure all the guests were helped to safety, she said.
The hotel had tried its best to look after its guests, many of whom were foreigners. The hotel had found new rooms for them in affiliated and nearby hotels such as the Montien, Asia, Plaza, and Bangkok Centre.
Ms Sirikul said the hotel would meet medical expenses for guests who suffered from smoke inhalation.
Three of the 16 injured guests remained in hospital yesterday.
Ms Sirikul said the fire started in a storeroom on the first floor of the building. Police said earlier an initial investigation suggested an electrical short circuit was the cause.
The hotel has been closed by order of the city administration for further inspection.
Insurance Department director-general Chanthra Buranarirk said the hotel had a 500-million-baht insurance policy. Damage was estimated at 50-100 million baht.
The hotel has had insurance for its guests, who were entitled to financial compensation.
Deputy Bangkok Governor Bannasopit Mekvichai led an inspection team to assess the damage to the hotel yesterday. They found the hotel's fire alarm and smoke detection systems were still in place.
However, Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin said he has ordered a thorough investigation after an inspection found the hotel had only smoke detectors installed and there was no sprinkler system.
Ms Bannasopit said the BMA will also look into guest complaints that they heard no fire alarm at all.
Staff of the Engineering Institute of Thailand and BMA officials will examine the structural strength of the two hotel buildings, she added.
Pol Lt-Gen Amporn Charuchinda, head of the Scientific Crime Detection Division, said the damaged buildings will be inspected by the division's specialists and an expert from Japan. The cause of the fire would be formally established in seven days.
There were about 400 guests believed to be in the hotel when the fire started, mostly foreigners. Many complained they had not heard any alarms and that the evacuation was badly managed.
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Posted on: 2:46 am on Sep. 7, 2007
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PussyLover 69
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Report from The Nation dated Friday 7 September 2007 :-
Hotels step up safety measures - Conflagration considered worst incident in the sector for a decade
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Some hotels in Bangkok are stepping up safety measures in response to the blaze at the Mandarin Hotel early Wednesday morning that injured at least 16 tourists and has been cited as the worst incident in the Thai hotel industry in 10 years.
Thai Hotels Association (THA) president Chanin Donavanik said the THA planned to discuss the issue with its members soon. He said all hotels were constantly urged to be more concerned about security.
"This case is another big event 10 years after the Pattaya incident. In fact, this should not happen in any hotel," said Chanin.
He said the THA would investigate the incident after officials had finished their work. In 1997, the Royal Jomtien Resort in Pattaya caught fire, killing 90. Two hotel executives were charged with neglecting fire-safety measures.
The THA is calling on all hotels to be concerned about safety and train their staff to handle emergencies.
It said one important measure would be to install fire masks in hotels, but many operators have not yet responded, due to the high cost.
The THA said many Bangkok hotels were discussing the issue. At least 10 are expected to hold a meeting to discuss the matter in the next few weeks.
Radisson Hotel Bangkok manager Karl Buhr held an internal meeting yesterday to discuss security measures, particular regarding fires. The hotel, which plans to hold a fire-evacuation drill on September 20, will include all departments in the drill instead of only some as originally planned. A public-relations executive said the move was a response to the Mandarin Hotel fire, which injured 16 guests.
The mandarin Hotel is located on Rama IV Road near Hualampong railway station. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has declared the hotel a danger zone, and outsiders may not enter without official permission.
Wednesday morning's fire broke out on the hotel's second floor, which is under renovation, before spreading to other areas. The damage is estimated at more than Bt100 million.
Two years ago, the Baiyoke Suite Hotel in Bangkok was closed temporarily after a fire broke out on the second floor of the tower, causing extensive damage to retail textile outlets.
That fire was caused by a short circuit in a control room in the hotel, which operates on the upper floors of the 43-storey tower.
At least eight people suffered from smoke inhalation, but there were no fatalities.
Early this year, tourism experts warned about hotel safety during a meeting of the Thailand chapter of the Pacific Asia Travel Association.
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Posted on: 2:53 am on Sep. 7, 2007
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