Shoppers flee fire at Central Bang Na

Shoppers flee fire at Central Bang Na

A fire broke out on the seventh floor of the Central Bang Na shopping mall late yesterday afternoon, prompting shoppers and shop assistants to flee the building in panic.
The floor housed the mall's food court, a movie theatre, a bowling alley and a water-fun park. No injuries or deaths were reported.
After firefighters had the fire under control in 20 minutes, the initial inspection found that it might have started around 3pm in the food-court area, which was under renovation, possibly after sparks from metal welding burned a wall and the ceiling. The fire-damaged area covered 50-60 square metres. Forensic investigators were inspecting the scene for the exact cause of the fire.
The incident caused panic to shoppers who fled the building and gathered on the footpath, while many tried to drive their cars out of the mall, causing a severe traffic jam in the area.
A seventh floor Major Bowl assistant manager, Natthakan Aasainam, said there was no fire alarm at the time but he smelled the burning smoke and looked toward the food court, some 30 metres away, and saw the flames, so he alerted customers and fellow workers to run out of the building. "I wasn't so shocked because I believed firefighters would put it out in time. Many others were fearful and stampeded to get out. I hurriedly put money in the safe box before running out," he said.
Forty-year-old Boonthiam Kaewmueuangkao, who was shopping with her young daughter,
said they were on the fifth floor escalator when they smelled and saw the smoke and people fleeing. Getting scared, she carried her daughter and ran along with others until they were clear of the building.