Video shared by first responders showed flames and smoke pouring from the front entrance of the Na Ladprao pub, in the northern part of the Thai capital, as people scrambled to escape.

Rescue teams say the alarm was raised around midnight. Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, speaking to reporters at the scene, confirmed 27 fatalities and said the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
At least 27 people have been killed in a fire at a pub in Bangkok in one of the deadliest such incidents in the tourism hub in recent years https://t.co/3STrHP3k5v pic.twitter.com/VkvzWFpVb1

— Reuters (@Reuters) July 12, 2026

The AP cited the prime minister as saying a musician who had been performing at the venue told him he’d seen “smoke coming out of a circuit breaker” near the stage moments before the power cut out. An explosion followed, and thick smoke rapidly filled the building. Many of those who died were found in the restrooms at the rear of the premises, Anutin said.

Dozens hospitalised, several critical

Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said 63 people had been taken to hospital, with 22 in critical condition, per the AP’s report. Authorities are working to identify the dead, a task complicated by the fact that many victims were found without identification or were unconscious when recovered.

Rescuers stand near the site of a fire in Bangkok, Thailand. (Photo: AP)

Firefighters brought the blaze under control within roughly half an hour, though images from the scene show gutted furniture and a badly damaged interior. A registration point has since been set up for relatives searching for missing loved ones.

‘Everything went dark’

Singer Sukanya Wongwongwai told the AP she rushed to the scene after learning several of her bandmates had been performing at the pub when the fire broke out. One of them died, three were hospitalised, and one remained unaccounted for, she said. She described how the venue was plunged into darkness the moment the fire took hold, with thick smoke making it impossible for people inside to find one another.

Mobile phones of victims of a fire are recovered in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo)

Meanwhile, this is not the first such tragedy to strike Thailand’s entertainment venues. A 2022 fire at a music pub in the east of the country killed 14 people. And in 2009, 66 people died and more than 200 were injured when fire swept through the Santika nightclub in Bangkok during New Year’s Eve celebrations  a blaze believed to have been triggered by an indoor fireworks display.