The relatives of air traffic controller Leslie Yeo Bee Soon, 40, and undergraduate Lu Weiye, 26, first went to Police General Hospital morgue, accompanied by some of the victims' friends and Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials.

But after arriving there, they left without viewing the men's bodies, and headed to the Thong Lor police station.

No reasons were given for this.

At the police station, they filled out some paperwork and were then given wristwatches worn by Mr Yeo and Mr Lu - the only possessions of theirs to survive the blaze.

The men's bodies are expected to be flown home today.

Both families were relatively composed yesterday, despite the circumstances.

Only Mr Lu's mother, who hugged her son's friends one by one, broke down, but only briefly.

Her son had left for Thailand's Assumption Business Administration College to get a degree six months ago.

Yesterday, Mr Lu's flatmate, Mr Jeremy Lu, said the pair had planned to start a venture together after their business administration studies.

'We were really close,' Mr Jeremy Lu said of his friend of more than 10 years.

Mr Lu Weiye and Mr Yeo were among the last victims of the blaze to be identified.

For several days after the fire, they had been listed as missing. It was only on Sunday that their bodies were positively identified via DNA testing and they were confirmed dead.

The New Year's Day blaze at the Santika nightclub in an upscale Bangkok district rose to 64 yesterday, after two victims succumbed to their injuries, Thai police said.

One of them was a 25-year-old Japanese man, Mr Keiichi Wada, who had burns over more than 60 per cent of his body. He died on Sunday night. The other was a Thai woman who died earlier on the same day.

With the death of Mr Wada, the number of foreigners who died in the fire is now five, three of whom are Singaporeans. Local media reported that a Myanmar national had also died, but this could not be independently confirmed.

The body of the other Singaporean victim, Mr Teo Sze Siong, was brought home by his two older brothers last Saturday.

Mr Teo, 38, was Mr Yeo's close friend and Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) colleague.

Two other Singaporeans who were injured in the blaze, Mr Donald Loh, 38, and his girlfriend, Ms Adeline Tok, 33, are still in hospital in Bangkok. Ms Tok is in the intensive care unit while Mr Loh will be moved out of it today.

Thai police have said the owner of the nightclub will face criminal charges over the blaze, which was likely sparked by a countdown fireworks display.

carolynq@sph.com.sg

With additional information from Associated Press, Agence France-Presse