A fierce fire gutted a police building that stored official documents in Bangkok’s Sathon district early Saturday. No casualties were reported.
More than 50 fire trucks and firemen were deployed to the building of the Metropolitan Police Division 5 on Sathon Road in Thung Mahamek area to control the blaze, which broke out around 4am, according to reports.
Flames were spreading quickly over the three-story building. Loud noises that sounded like an explosion were heard constantly, as roads within a kilometre radius of the building were closed off by police.
Firefighters took over an hour to put the blaze under control. Nobody was inside the building at the time. Seven cars parked near the fire-ravaged building were damaged.
Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt rushed to the scene as he was about to start a morning workout routine.
Mr Chadchart said a police officer guarding the building heard a loud sound like an electric short circuit from the first floor of the building and saw a pile of documents on fire. The officer alerted the firemen after failing to douse the flames with a fire extinguisher, said the governor.
Metropolitan Police Bureau commissioner Pol Lt Gen Thiti Saengsawant said the fire started on the first floor of the building and quickly engulfed the second and third floors, causing its roof to collapse. The entire building was badly damaged.
The building stored official documents, and officers would check whether documents of important cases were kept there, said the city police chief.
A panel would be set up to investigate the cause of the fire, he added.
