BANGKOK, Aug 20 – The charred bodies of four persons recovered from Tiger Discotheque fire in the southern province of Phuket are likely to be those of two Asian females and two Caucasian males, according to a senior police officer.
Assistant National Police Chief Pol Lt-Gen Charamporn Suramanee said their identifications would be known in one to two days.
Gen Charamporn told reporters that the forensic examination showed that all four died from smoke inhalation and their bodies were burned beyond recognition so that the forensic investigation was necessary to identify the fire victims, in a process similar to that used to identify tsunami victims in Thailand in 2004.
He said that according to the initial investigation the four victims were two Asian females and two Caucasians males. The belongings collected from the bodies such as necklaces, bracelets, clothes, brassiere frames, mobile phones, belts, and underwear were useful in helping to identify the victims.
Police collected more evidence at the rooms of persons reportedly missing and suspected to have been killed in the fire, he said, adding that their identity would be known in another one of two days.
Gen Charamporn said that the cause of the fire is under investigation but initially believed that the fire began on the second floor of the entertainment venue.
Meanwhile, Phuket provincial police forensic inspector Pol Col Kittisak Noopheung said that DNA samples have been collected from relatives of the four who were reported missing and the authorities are awaiting test results to compare DNA from bodies of the victims.
The process was expected to take two days.
Four persons were killed in the fire that raged through the Tiger Discotheque in Patong, Phuket last Friday, while 11 were injured.
