At least 53 people have been killed in a fire in a nightclub in the Thai capital, Bangkok, police say.
More than 100 others were injured in the blaze, which broke out as people celebrated the New Year.
Witnesses said bodies were laid out on the pavement in front of the club, named as the Santika, in central Bangkok’s Thong Lor district.
Police said they were investigating what sparked the fire in the club, popular with both Thais and foreigners.
The blaze was now under control but the death toll could rise, a fire official said.
“We were all dancing and suddenly there was a big flame that came out of the front of the stage and everybody was running away,” one woman told Reuters news agency.
One man told the BBC that survivors leaving the club told him the fire broke out on the stage after fireworks were lit just after midnight.
Andrew Long, a British man living in Bangkok, said that club had only one main exit, at the front, and many people had been trapped inside.
A policeman said those killed died from burns, smoke inhalation and injuries received as people tried to escape.
Most of the bodies were found in the basement of the two-storey building, rescue workers told the Associated Press news agency
BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Dozens die in Bangkok nightclub
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