A video of the incident posted on social media and verified by Reuters showed thick smoke billowing out of the Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao pub, before an intense horizontal plume of fire burst out of a doorway

International News via Reuters:

An explosive fire at a pub in Thailand’s capital Bangkok killed 27 people and injured dozens, officials said on Monday, with police investigating possible negligence including obstructed emergency exits as people scrambled to flee the burning venue.

A video of the incident posted on social media and verified by Reuters showed thick smoke billowing out of the Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao pub, before an intense horizontal plume of fire burst out of a doorway, as screaming customers fled.

“Most of the victims ran to the back of the building, into the bathroom, and there was no clear sign of a fire exit,” said Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who visited the site.

The city’s medical department said 73 people were injured, 25 of those critically, in the incident that took place close to midnight on Sunday. Thirty-two people have been treated and returned home.

The pub is located in a busy intersection in northern Bangkok, connected by its urban rail systems and adjacent to two shopping malls, within walking distance of cinemas, large parks and the Chatuchak weekend market that is popular in the daytime with foreign tourists.

The area has a number of bars with live music that are usually crowded on weekend nights.

Bangkok’s disaster administration said its initial assessment was that an electrical short circuit in a ceiling air conditioner might have caused the fire, while police said they were investigating the possibility that some exits were obstructed, doors were locked and flammable materials were used in stage decorations and soundproofing to improve audio.

The business owner was among those in an intensive care unit and police were seeking to interview staff.

“At this time, police have established negligence as the primary theory guiding their investigation,” National Police chief Kittiratt Phanphet told reporters.

‘SMOKE WAS EVERYWHERE’

Firefighter Chakrit Khongkom said he arrived on the first fire truck and saw the pub alight with many patrons trapped inside, several trying to escape from the back of the venue. The few people coming through the front of the building were burnt.

“Smoke was everywhere,” he said. “Most of the survivors were choking on smoke.”

Body-camera footage from an emergency worker seen by Reuters showed firefighters in oxygen masks moving through the darkened remains of the pub with torches as they searched for survivors and victims.

Several victims could be seen lying prone on the floor near the pub’s toilets while rescue workers carried in stretchers.

“We sent in a rescue and search squad and found that a lot of people were inside the toilet. Most of them were trying to escape to the back because they saw that the flame was at the front,” said Chakrit.

In the early hours of the morning, numbered bodies lay in two rows awaiting removal as forensics teams inspected the site. Firefighters stood near the pub’s entrance, its facade scorched and blackened by the blaze.

In the hours after the fire, Sukanya Wongwongwai waited outside the pub, looking for a missing friend. Survivors had told her about the chaos inside.

“My friend, who was singing on stage, said at first they noticed the smell of something burning, then a little after they saw the ceiling was on fire,” said Sukanya, 32.

“Some people were injured because of the (debris) from the ceiling because it seems that the ceiling was made out of foam material to absorb sound.”

RECORD OF FIRES

Entertainment venues have suffered several fires in recent years in Thailand, where fire safety inspections are conducted but proprietors do not always consistently follow protocols.

At least 13 people were killed in a nightclub fire in Chonburi in 2022, while 65 people died in a blaze during a New Year party at a packed Bangkok club in 2009, where an investigation determined corruption and safety breaches were key factors.

City authorities said Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao was licensed as a restaurant and live music venue and had been inspected in April this year, when fire exits, emergency signs and fire extinguishers were in place.

The governor’s office said the pub’s ceiling materials, decorations and indoor equipment would be examined, as well as the possibility that tables and other items may have been blocking exits.

In a video shared by Anutin’s office during an inspection of the scene, the premier was told a door that was once an exit was bolted, with the proprietor afraid that customers would slip out without paying their bills.

The door had a sign that said “staff only” and could be opened to the outside, but an official told Anutin customers would not have been aware.

“If they had run this way, it would have been fine,” Anutin responded.

Based on survivor accounts, officials said the fire may have started at the front stage section and spread rapidly, forcing many to run towards the kitchen and toilets at the back. Most of the bodies found were near the bathrooms, according to police.

“There are two fire exits, one is near the kitchen. There were beer crates in the way,” Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said.

Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat, Chalinee Thirasupa, Napat Wesshasartar, Chayut Setboonsarng, Orathai Sriring and Kitiphong Thaichareon in Bangkok and Bipasha Dey in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Lucy Craymer; Writing by Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by Nia Williams, Andrea Ricci, Lincoln Feast and Kate Mayberry

The incident occurred on July 10 aboard a Boeing 737-800 operated by Ryanair’s subsidiary Malta Air

International News via Reuters:

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency said on Monday it has appointed a technical advisor to investigate an incident on a Ryanair operated flight in which a passenger was partially sucked through a dislodged window.

The incident occurred on July 10 aboard a Boeing 737-800 operated by Ryanair’s subsidiary Malta Air. The plane was flying from Thessaloniki, Greece, to Memmingen, Germany, when a window broke shortly after takeoff, partially sucking a passenger through the opening and forcing the plane to divert back to Thessaloniki.

• EASA said in a statement it is aware of the event and has appointed a technical advisor to the investigation.

• The agency said it is in contact with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which certified the aircraft’s design, and with Boeing.

• EASA said it will follow the situation closely and take any continued airworthiness action needed to ensure safety.

• North Macedonia is leading the probe as the incident occurred over its airspace, with Boeing assisting the investigation and the FAA standing ready to support.

Reporting by Hugo Lhomedet; Editing by Susan Fenton

Intel said the move would upgrade and maximize capacity at its facility in Leixlip outside Dublin that produces Intel 3 silicon wafers, which the company says is the most advanced semiconductor manufacturing facility of its kind in Europe

International News via Reuters:

Intel has begun a €5 billion ($5.7 billion) capital investment to upgrade its Irish campus and expand its European output to meet growing global demand for AI and high-performance computing, the U.S. chipmaker said on Monday.

Intel said the move would upgrade and maximize capacity at its facility in Leixlip outside Dublin that produces Intel 3 silicon wafers, which the company says is the most advanced semiconductor manufacturing facility of its kind in Europe.

It will also link the facility to other factories at the campus, Intel’s European manufacturing base, as well as advance research and development and retrain staff, Naga Chandrasekaran, executive vice president of Intel Foundry, said.

Intel is one of the key multinationals in Ireland’s foreign investment-focused economy, having already invested €30 billion in the country since 1989, more than half of which was spent between 2019 and 2023 on the fabrication facility that doubled the available capacity in Ireland.

The leading-edge manufacturing equipment that Intel has begun to install will help deliver Intel Xeon 6 processors and next-generation Intel Xeon built on the group’s Intel 3 manufacturing process, the company said. 

“The demand for servers, the demand for AI is driving a significant increase in the need for Intel 3 wafers,” Chandrasekaran told reporters.

Chandrasekaran said the investment would add “several hundred” more jobs to the 4,900 people Intel employs in Ireland.

The majority of the investment would be made by the end of 2027 and represents about 30% of Intel’s $17 billion planned capital expenditure for 2026, he added.

Ireland is hugely reliant on the taxes and jobs of foreign multinationals such as Intel. Foreign-owned firms have almost doubled their Irish workforce in the last decade to make up 11% of the entire labour market.

Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said Intel’s latest investment was a powerful vote of confidence in Ireland and its position as a location for advanced manufacturing.

($1 = 0.8750 euros)

Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Sarah Young and Tomasz Janowski

The victims include a married couple from Spain and Britain

International News via Reuters:

Six victims of one of Spain’s deadliest wildfires on record have been identified, authorities said on Monday, as forensic teams continued efforts to confirm the identities of six others through DNA analysis.

The victims include a married couple from Spain and Britain, authorities said. The other identified victims are a British man and woman, a French woman and a Belgian man. All were adults.

A seventh identified victim was a 93-year-old British woman, who died in hospital on Sunday from burn injuries, bringing the death toll to 13. Seven other people were injured in the blaze, which has scorched about 7,000 hectares (17,300 acres).

The Belgian man who was identified was 63-year-old businessman Stanislas Verdonckt, who had attempted to flee the area via a mountain track but was engulfed by flames, his sister, Sophie Vandebroek, said in an email.His dog Schubi was also found close to his body, she said.

Spain’s deadliest wildfire in more than four decades trapped residents in a rugged area with scattered homes as they attempted to escape the flames on Thursday night.

Spain and much of Southern Europe face increasingly severe wildfire seasons that scientists have linked to climate change. Experts say unusually heavy spring rainfall this year spurred vegetation growth across parts of southern Spain, creating abundant fuel that later dried out in extreme summer heat, helping the fire spread rapidly.

Officials expect the remaining six victims to be identified in the coming days after relatives provided biological samples, with assistance from Belgian, British and French consular authorities. Authorities say 10 people are still missing, although some of those could be among the bodies not yet identified.

Investigators said DNA analysis remains the only viable primary identification method because of the condition of the remains.

Andalusia’s regional government on Monday lowered the wildfire alert to the pre-emergency phase after the blaze was stabilised, evacuation orders lifted and residents were allowed to return to their homes.

Reporting by Emma Pinedo and Aislinn Laing; editing by Charlie Devereux and Hugh Lawson