Short circuit blamed for blaze at police headquarters
The fire that destroyed a wing of a police building in central Bangkok in the early hours of Saturday morning could have been caused by an electrical short circuit, Bangkok’s police chief said.
“It’s [a possible cause] because nobody was in the building when the fire broke out,” Metropolitan Police Bureau commissioner Lt-General Thiti Saengsawang said while inspecting the gutted wing of the building at the headquarters of Metropolitan Police Division 5 in Sathon district on Saturday morning.
An investigation committee will be set up to determine the cause of the blaze, Thiti said.
There were no reports of injuries.
The fire erupted in a section of the building used to store official documents, Tithi said. Police will check to find out whether any documents pertaining to important criminal cases were destroyed, he added.
Metropolitan Police Division 5 has nine police stations under its supervision. It is responsible for many high-profile cases, including those involving illegal gambling and one involving a former deputy political party leader accused of multiple sexual assaults.
The building was constructed 42 years ago and had wooden flooring.
It was previously used as the office of the Economic Crime Suppression Division before Metropolitan Police Division 5 took it over in August last year.
The fire broke out on the first floor of the three-floor building shortly before 4am, Thiti said. Security guards alerted the fire department after they were unable to put out the fire, he said.
It took dozens of firefighters and over 50 fire engines more than an hour to bring the blaze under control.
Metropolitan Police Division 5 commander, Maj-General Thawatkiat Jindakuansanong, inspected the scene early in the morning. He was joined by Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt.
Chadchart said a security guard told him that before the fire started he heard a loud noise from inside the first floor of the building. The guard said it could have been an electrical short circuit.
Later, the guard saw a pile of documents burning inside a room of the building, the governor quoted him as saying.
The fire also destroyed seven vehicles parked close to the building, including the official car of the division’s commander.
