New Year Turns To Fire and Death At China “Party”

How many times do we have to learn that fireworks, alcohol and nightclubs don’t mix?

China experienced another unnecessary tragedy of party-fireworks-nightclub when a group celebrating a birthday during China’s New Year shot off fireworks at their table and set fire to a bar in China’s Fujian province, leading to the deaths of 15 people, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The fire was in Changle City, which translates into “lasting happiness.”

This tragedy has been played out in Bangkok where a band named “Burn” ignited destruction and death. Sixty-five people were killed in that fire in the crowded Santika nightclub exposing the dismal safety standards of Bangkok’s shady entertainment scene.

A Rhode Island club fire in 2003 killed 100.

We may never know the complete cause of death in China in this fireworks incident because China controls its media.  But it is a safe bet that fireworks, alcohol and bad safety thinking are to blame.

China fire from CNN:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORL
D/asiapcf/01/31/china.fire/index.html

Related:
Bangkok Club Fire On New Year’s Reveals “Host Of Safety Violations” in “Shady Entertainment World”

 

Aftermath of the January 1 Club fire in Thailand. Photograph by: Kerek Wongsa/Reuters, Reuters

Bangkok Club Fire On New Year’s Reveals “Host Of Safety Violations” in “Shady Entertainment World”

The lead singer of a band called Burn has been charged with starting a Bangkok nightclub fire that killed 65 partygoers on new year’s eve by launching fireworks from the stage.

By Thomas Bell in Bangkok
Telegraph (UK)

The tragedy in the crowded Santika nightclub exposed the dismal safety standards of Bangkok’s shady entertainment scene. An official inquiry into the incident found a catalogue of safety failures and that the nightclub was part-owned by a senior police officer who allegedly protected it from official scrutiny.

Shortly after midnight a blaze engulfed the crowded building with around 1000 people trapped inside and only one marked exit. The fire killed 65 people and injured more than 200 others, including 4 Britons.

“Eyewitnesses and evidence points to fireworks as the cause of the fire at Santika pub, because the fireworks hit the club ceiling and the fire broke out 30 seconds after the fireworks were lit,” said General Jongrak Jutanont, deputy national police chief on Tuesday.

He said police had arrested Saravuth Ariya, 28, the lead singer of Burn.

“He was seen carrying fireworks into the pub and lighting them during the countdown,” said Gen Jongrak.

Mr Saravuth is the sixth person to be charged in connection with the fire. The others – all owners and managers of the club – have been charged with causing death by negligence and admitting under age drinkers.

Read the rest:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/thailand/435
7374/Lead-singer-accused-of-Bangkok-nightclub-fire-whic
h-killed-65-people.html

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Band, Nightclub In Rhode Island Kills 100 With Pyrotechnics

From the Boston Globe in 2003….
http://www.boston.com/news/packages/nightclu
b_fire/Series_of_errors_sealed_crowd_s_fate+.shtml