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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2013
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Friday October 18 – Thursday October 24, 2013
Since 2011 / Volume III / No 41
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PHUKET IMMIGRATION DENIES CRACKDOWN ON ED VISAS > PAGE 5
HUGE FIRE AT SUPERCHEAP
The fire started on Wednesday night, destroying the SuperCheap building.
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massive f ire at the SuperCheap megastore on Thepk rassat r i Road in Phuket Town on Wednesday night (October 16) engulfed the entire building with people inside. As The Phuket News went to print on Thursday, there were no confirmed reports of injured or dead. No victims had been treated at Mission Hospital or Vachira Hospital Phuket. The fire started at around 9.40pm on Wednesday evening. Around 50 to 60 firetrucks from Phuket and
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Phang Nga were sent to the scene, along with 300 or so firefighters. The fire burned out of control for many hours, engulfing the nearby Thanksina wood factory and completely destroying the SuperCheap building. At 9am on Thursday when The Phuket News went to print, the fire was still burning but officials said it was under control. A Phuket Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation official told The Phuket News on Thursday morning, “I have not received any report
about any injured or dead people. The fire is under control now. We have 15 officials from the department standing by at the scene to help.” Police cordoned off the area and evacuated those living nearby due to the risk of a possible explosion following concerns about the close proximity of the Esso petrol station. Once news broke of the blaze, Phuket Vice-Governors Jamroen Thipphayapongtada and Sommai Prijasilpa went to the scene along with mayors from many districts on
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the island. Phuket Governor Maitree Intusut was in Bangkok at the time the fire started, but was due to return to Phuket on Thursday. The Phuket News reporter Naraporn Tuarob arrived at the scene of the blaze to find flames coming out of the building and people running from the scene. She gave this report at the time: “At the moment I can hear explosions but I don’t know where they are coming from. The flames have moved to the Thanksina wood factory.”
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