Couple and 30 cats die in Nonthaburi housefire

Rescuers succesfully resuscitate two of the cats

NONTHABURI – A couple and about 30 pet cats died in a house fire in the early hours of Monday and rescuers later found a charcoal stove and petrol container in the bedroom. 

Two of the couple’s cats were saved and were recovering after resuscitation.

Emergency services responded to reports of a fire at a house in a luxury estate on Ratchaphruek-Nonthaburi 1 Road in tambon Bang Si Muang of Muang district about 12.10am, according to Pol Lt Alongkorn Meesri, deputy inspector of investigation at Bang Si Muang.

They reported a two-storey 320-square-metre house was on fire, the flames engulfing the second floor. Four fire engines were deployed to the scene.

A man and a woman were later found dead on a bed, with a charcoal stove and the remains of 20-litre gallon used to store petrol near them. The couple’s identities had yet to be confirmed. Their bodies were severely burned, officers said.

Many dead cats, reportedly about 30, were found in a rear room on the same floor. 

Media outlets reported that two cats survived, saved by rescuers who gave them cardiopulmonary resuscitation. (continues below)

Rescuers perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on cats found in a backroom of the house where a man and woman died in a fire early Monday morning in Nonthaburi. (Photo: Fire & Rescue Thailand)

A firefighter with the Ruamkatanyu Foundation, Jam Laotoom, 45, said that while directing water onto the blaze they noticed the flames were spreading into a bedroom on the second floor. 

They climbed a ladder to investigate and saw a large fuel container in the room, he said. When they sprayed water on it, there were repeated explosions. It was the dead couple’s bedroom. The bathroom door was also later found locked.

It took firemen about half an hour to bring the blaze under control.

A subsequent inspection found the first floor had not been damaged, but petrol stains were found splashed throughout the premises, according to Bang Si Muang police. 

A neighbour told police that before the fire erupted, a loud sound like something falling on the floor was heard inside the house. The couple were crypto traders, the neighbour said.

The investigation into the cause of the fire was continuing, police said.