CHON BURI - A fire gutted the basement of a hotel under construction in downtown Pattaya in the early hours of Saturday.
No casualties were reported and the damage has yet to be estimated.
Black smoke was billowing from the basement of one of the three buildings of Le Bali Hotel which was under construction on Soi Thai Udom in tambon Na Kluea, Bang Lamung district, when firemen and rescue workers rushed to the scene at around 2.10am on Saturday, said an official at the Pattaya Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office. Five fire trucks were deployed.
Fire fighters took more than one hour to put the blaze under control.
Surat Thiangsing, 23, a hotel security guard, said he saw thick smoke coming out of the basement of the hotel’s building B while patrolling the area. He immediately checked and found the smoke came from a storage room in the basement, where many construction materials, PVC pipes and paint were kept.
Workers were called in to help douse the fire, but were unable to contain it. This prompted the staff to alert Pattaya authorities. All construction materials were destroyed.
Police were investigating the cause of the fire. Damage has yet to be estimated.
Firemen and rescue workers inspect damage after putting out the fire in the basement of one of three buildings under construction at Le Bali Hotel in Pattaya city of Chon Buri. (Photo by Chaiyot Pupattanapong)
Thick smoke billows from the basement of Le Bali Hotel in the early hours of Saturday. (Photo by Chaiyot Pupattanapong)