Bangkok bar fire kills 27, reviving focus on deadly nightclub safety failures

Bangkok,UPDATED: Jul 13, 2026 13:06 IST

A fire at the Na Ladprao bar in northern Bangkok has killed at least 27 people and injured dozens, with an investigation under way into what caused the blaze and whether any emergency exits may have been obstructed.

The fire is one of the deadliest club fires in Thailand since 2009, when 67 people were killed in a Bangkok nightclub blaze on New Year's Day. The incident has also brought renewed focus on major fires at nightclubs, bars and music venues in several countries in recent years.

In January 2026, a fire at a bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana in the early hours of New Year's Day left 41 people dead and more than 100 injured. In December 2025, a fire tore through a popular nightclub in Arpora village in Goa, killing 25 people, including kitchen workers and tourists. In March 2025, a fire and the stampede that followed at the crowded Pulse club in Kocani, North Macedonia, killed 63 people, most of them young revellers, and injured more than 200. It was triggered by a pyrotechnic flame that engulfed the club's roof.

In April 2024, a blaze at the Masquerade nightclub in Istanbul, Turkiye, trapped workers and employees while the venue was closed for renovations, killing 29 people. The club was on the ground and basement floors of a 16-storey residential building. In October 2023, a fire that began at a nightclub in Murcia in southeastern Spain and spread to two other clubs killed 13 people. In January 2022, a nightclub in Sorong in Indonesia's West Papua province burned after two groups attacked each other inside the building, leaving 19 people dead. Also in January 2022, a fire at Liv's Nightclub Yaouba in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, triggered explosions that killed 17 people, with the government linking the blaze to fireworks.

In December 2016, a fire broke out at a warehouse in Oakland, California, that had been converted into a residence and event space for artists and was dubbed the Ghost Ship, killing 36 people. The blaze started during an electronic music and dance party and spread so quickly that victims were trapped on the illegally built second floor. In October 2015, a fire during a rock band's pyrotechnics display at the Colectiv nightclub in Bucharest, Romania, killed 64 people and injured about 190. In January 2013, a fire at the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria in southern Brazil killed more than 200 people. Investigators said soundproofing foam on the ceiling caught fire and released poisonous gases that quickly killed those at a university party.

In December 2009, about 152 people died when a fire broke out at the Lame Horse nightclub in Perm, Russia, after an indoor fireworks display ignited a plastic ceiling decorated with branches. In January 2009, an indoor fireworks display after a New Year's countdown set off a blaze at the Santika club in Bangkok, killing 67 people and injuring many more. Victims died from burns, smoke inhalation and being crushed. In September 2008, a fire killed 44 people at the packed King of Dancers nightclub in Shenzhen, China, when a stampede broke out after a fireworks show ignited the ceiling.

In December 2004, a fire at the crowded Cromagnon Republic club in Buenos Aires, Argentina, killed 194 people after a flare ignited ceiling foam. Club owner Omar Chaban was later sentenced to 20 years in prison for causing the deadly fire and for bribery, while others received lighter sentences. In February 2003, a fire at the Station nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, in the United States, killed 100 people and injured more than 200 others after fireworks used by a band set flammable foam alight inside the club. In January 2001, a fire at a cafe in the Dutch town of Volendam during New Year celebrations killed 14 people and injured more than 200. In December 2000, a fire blamed on a welding accident killed 309 people at a disco in Luoyang in central China.

The Bangkok fire has added to a long list of deadly blazes at nightlife venues around the world, with many of the worst incidents linked to fireworks, flammable interiors, blocked escape routes and overcrowding.

With PTI Inputs

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