Injuries and deaths at a pub fire in Bangkok, Thailand on New Year's Eve 2009

This investigation describes the 67 people who died and the 153 who were hospitalized from a New Years’ Eve fire in a Bangkok pub. We interviewed survivors and reviewed medical charts and forensic reports of decedents. Survivors were young (median age 27 years), single (84.7%) and lived in Thailand (93.6%). Most were on the concert floor when the fire started (74.0%), became aware of danger when they saw flames (61.5%) and escaped through the main entry door (42.9%). Common injuries were burns (75.6%), smoke inhalation (47.4%) and open wounds (32.1%). The decedents’ median age was 27 years and 88.1% lived in Thailand. Most of the dead bodies were found at or near the main entrance. The main causes of death were asphyxia (88.1%) or burn (10.4%). Soot was present in the trachea of 95.5% of the decedents. Carboxyhemoglobin level in 37.5% was in the toxic range. The average percent of body surface burned was 75.0%. Loss of consciousness in the pub (RR 3.5, 95% CI 1.7-7.3) was a risk factor for severe injury and smoke inhalation (RR 9.3, 95% CI 3.1-28.0) was a risk factor for death.