At least 27 dead in Bangkok pub fire

A fire in a pub in the Thai capital Bangkok killed at least 27 people late Sunday night, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told local media.



"Twenty-seven bodies were moved out, lifeless bodies. Some were sent to hospitals, we are checking their conditions," Anutin said in televised remarks from the scene of the blaze.



The prime minister said musicians at the bar and restaurant venue on the outskirts of the capital described "smoke from a circuit breaker near the stage followed by the power going out and an explosion".



"Most of the victims ran to the back, to toilets with no exit. It could be because of panic because there was fire and smoke in the restaurant," Anutin told reporters.



Authorities set up a perimeter with metal barricades and police tape outside the venue.



A Bangkok metropolitan administration official said 63 people were injured in the fire.