Lina, 40, at the fire in Bangkok: “It got worse”

Lina, 40, stood opposite the fire in Bangkok: “It was crazy”

Rebecka Rosengart

Published 2024-12-30 08.43

Three tourists died and several people were injured in the hotel fire in central Bangkok.

Lina Lindfors, 40, had just arrived in the city to stay at a hotel a hundred meters away.

– First a police car came, then another and another and another, she says.

         
         Lina witnessed the hotel fire: “Uncomfortable”
         1:09

The hotel is popular for backpackers to stay at. The cause of the fire is unknown, but will be investigated.

Lina Lindfors, 40, who actually lives in Stockholm, has been traveling in Asia for a few weeks. She says it was a coincidence that she went to Bangkok just yesterday. And her hotel was only a hundred meters from the fire, she says.

Lina's taxi pulled into the street in the middle of the incident.

- I arrived late yesterday by taxi. I saw people standing in the street where the fire was and more police cars just arrived. They came one after another and it seemed to get worse and worse, says Lina.

When she entered her hotel and was in her room on the fifth floor, she saw a lot of smoke.

Lina, 40 Photo: Private

People were evacuated from the roof

Then she saw large fire trucks drive into the street. After a while, the whole street was filled with blue lights. The rescue service began to take people out of the building. Lina says that the hotel guests made their way up to a roof terrace and then jumped onto the fire truck ladders.

- They could only take two or three people at a time, but there were a lot of people waiting, she says.

She says it may have burned in the stairwell, as no one came out that way.

Down on the street, the atmosphere was chaotic, says Lina.

– It was crazy on the street. Lots of people were scared and people were filming.

It was hard to tell how big the fire was – she only saw smoke.

Firefighters on scene at the hotel fire.

Went down from her room: “Felt safer”

Lina also went down from her hotel room after a while.

– I didn’t know the extent of the fire or why it was burning. I felt it was nicer to be on the ground than in a hotel room on the fifth floor.

She went to bed around 4 a.m. The next morning, the fire appeared to be extinguished. But traces of the fire can be seen on the facade. Some windows are broken. From the smoke, Lina thinks.

Three people have died as a result of the fire. All are tourists.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs: No Swedes

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not aware of any of those involved being from Sweden. The embassy in Bangkok is following the incident and is in contact with Thai authorities, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote in an email to Aftonbladet.

At least three tourists have died and several have been injured in the fire in Bangkok.

Lina was staying at the hotel opposite and the street below was filled with fire trucks and rescue personnel. Photo: Private