Fire at Chatuchak market’s pet zone

Hundreds of caged animals died and over 100 stores were damaged in a pre-dawn fire this morning in the pet zone of Chatuchak market in Bangkok. There are no reports of human casualties.

Firemen took about an hour to extinguish the blaze, which started at about 4am. White smoke continues to rise from the pet zone, so firefighters are still spraying water onto it to stop the fire reigniting.

A fireman said that he heard the sound of the creaking from the building housing the pet stores, as if it was about to collapse.

Suriyachai Rawiwan, deputy director of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s Public Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, said that the fire started in the Srisomrat tropical fish market and several hundred pets, including birds, dogs, cats, chickens and snakes, were burned to death because they were caged and their owners were unable to move them to safety in time.

He said that the ceiling of the building housing the stores is in danger of collapse.

The cause of the fire is being investigated by the police.