Deadly nightclub fire in Thailand leaves multiple casualties

At least 13 people have been killed and 35 others injured when a fire broke out at a nightclub in Thailand's eastern Chonburi province, a police official said.

The cause of the fire is still unknown and all victims so far have been identified as Thai nationals, police said on Friday.

The fire at the Mountain B nightclub, about 180km southeast of the capital Bangkok, started at about 0100 local time, Wuttipong Somjai, a superintendent at a local police station, told Reuters news agency by phone.

Local TV footage showed people fleeing the club and emergency workers putting out flames and looking through the burnt-out premises, with shoes and bottles strewn across the ground.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has assured families of victims they will receive help from authorities and urged entertainment venues nationwide to ensure they have proper emergency exits and safety measures in place.

The dead –– four women and nine men –– were found mostly crowded by the entrance and in the bathroom, their bodies severely burned, the rescue service said. 

"There is no death related to foreigners," police lieutenant colonel Boonsong Yingyong of the Phlu Ta Luang police station, which oversees the area where the blaze occurred, told the AFP news agency.

Lax approach 
Concerns have long been raised about Thailand's lax approach to health and safety regulations, particularly in its countless bars and nightclubs.

A massive inferno erupted at a New Year's Eve party at Bangkok's swanky Santika club in 2009, killing 67 people and injuring more than 200.

The Santika owner was jailed for three years over the blaze, which began when fireworks were let off as a rock band called Burn played on stage.

More recently, four people were killed in a fire caused by an electrical fault at a club on the holiday island of Phuket, a magnet for foreign tourists, in 2012.