Raging fire envelops Bangkok slum and destroys 700 homes

Firefighters battle to control a violent fire in a slum area in Bangkok yesterday. The fire engulfed hundreds of wooden houses in the Tungmahamek slum area, home to about 7,000 people, just behind Thailand's Immigration Department, and threatened to spread beyond the congested region as strong winds fanned the flames. PHOTO: AFP

A huge fire raged out of control through a densely populated slum area in central Bangkok yesterday, with hundreds of firefighters battling the blaze near the Australian and German embassies and several luxury hotels, officials and witnesses said.

The fire engulfed up to 700 wooden houses in the Tungmahamek slum area, home to about 7,000 people behind Bangkok's Sathorn business district, and threatened to spread beyond the congested region as strong winds fanned the flames.

A large plume of black smoke was seen from several kilometers away rising hundreds of meters into the air.

"As of now, we have not been able to control the fire," Sathorn district director Prasan Bumrungpunt told Bangkok radio from the chaotic scene of the blaze nearly two hours after it began.

"All of the wooden houses in the slum have burned down," he said, adding that some 600 to 700 shanty-style houses had been in the area.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Over 100 firetrucks had converged on Tungmahamek, and several ambulances were standing by on the slum's periphery, but the vehicles appeared unable to navigate the narrow alleyways, a photographer witnessed.

He saw hundreds of residents clogging the narrow streets, their arms full of valuables, or dragging possessions such as refrigerators or gas cylinders out of the fire's reach.

Several volunteers and residents were also seen throwing buckets of water onto flaming rooftops and escorting people to safety.

Metropolitan police spokesman Colonel Phanurat Meepien said the fire had spread to the grounds of a nearby police station and engulfed at least 50 police apartments.

Despite the scope of the blaze there were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries.

"It's too early to know if there are any casualties," he said.