'4 dead' in fire at tourist nightclub in Phuket
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Flames engulf the Tiger Disco on the southern resort island of Phuket, Thailand early on Friday, Aug 17, 2012. Four people died when a fire swept through the nightclub frequented by foreign tourists, police said. -- PHOTO: AP
BANGKOK (AFP) - A fire ripped through a nightclub popular with foreign tourists in Thailand early on Friday, leaving at least four people dead and more than 20 others injured, officials said.
Hospital workers said foreigners were among the casualties in the blaze at the Tiger disco on the island of Phuket, where rescue workers pulled the charred bodies of victims out of the smoldering wreckage.
"There are four confirmed dead. We believe they are foreign tourists but it's not yet confirmed," Phuket deputy governor Chamroen Tipayapongtada told AFP by telephone.
"The fire was caused by lightning which struck a transformer and the fire spread throughout the place," he added.
