Thailand: Over 1K Animals Killed in Bangkok Market Fire

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Facts

• More than 1K animals were killed after a massive fire broke out at the Chatuchak Weekend Market in Bangkok, Thailand's capital, early on Tuesday.¹
• According to authorities, the fire, which burned through about 1.3K square meters (14K square feet) of the market, engulfing some 118 shops, was caused by an electrical fault.²
• Over 10 fire engines and volunteers from the Poh Teck Tung Foundation extinguished the fire, which is believed to have begun in the ornamental fish zone in the nearby Sri Somrat Market.³
• The blaze reportedly started at around 4:10 a.m. local time and burnt caged animals — including dogs, birds, cats, and snakes — to death.⁴
• Exotic animals — such as turtles, pythons, and geckos — were being sold as pets in the open-air marketplace, which reportedly draws nearly 200K visitors every weekend.⁵
• It isn't the first devasting fire to break through the Chatuchak Weekend Market. In 2013, a blaze destroyed at least 20 shops in its fashion zone.⁶

Sources: ¹Reuters, ²Sky News, ³Thaiger, ⁴Time, ⁵BBC News and ⁶Al Jazeera.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Guardian. If the death of innocent, caged animals isn't enough to wake up the authorities, what is? With tens of thousands of shops crowding narrow lanes, the Chatuchak market is sitting on a ticking bomb waiting to explode. Moreover, its pet section — where endangered species illegally smuggled into the country suffer in dire conditions — is a health and safety hazard. The Thai government must crack down on the sale of wildlife and stop the vendors from committing this senseless cruelty to animals.
• Narrative B, as provided by Bloomberg. Due to Bangkok officials' promptness, emergency responders gained control of the fire within an hour without any human casualties. One of South East Asia's biggest markets is subjected to regular inspections, which is why allegations of illegal trade and animals being kept in poor conditions are unfounded. For now, the focus must be to investigate the cause of the fire to prevent such tragedies, calculate the financial damage, compensate the affected shop owners, and rebuild the local community.

Predictions