At least 27 people died in a fire that broke out in a bar in Bangkok on the night into Monday. Another eight are fighting for their lives, and over 60 were injured - a tragedy that in a few minutes turned an ordinary night out into a catastrophe.

The fire broke out shortly after midnight in the popular Chatuchak district and, according to eyewitnesses, spread with terrifying speed. A musician performing at that moment described how it began: „The fire started from a switch, and then everything happened very fast. There were explosions and everyone was trying to escape the smoke and flames.“ Firefighters brought the blaze under control in about half an hour, but for many it was too late.

The most tragic detail is where most of the victims were found - in the restrooms at the back of the building, where people had fled trying to save themselves from the smoke. The preliminary investigation shows that most died from smoke inhalation, not from the fire itself.

That's exactly the lesson every tragedy like this leaves behind - the biggest killer in a fire is often not the flame, but the smoke and the panic in a space with no clear exit. The questions that follow are always the same: were there enough exits, did the fire-safety systems work, who issued the operating permit for that venue. Not to chase a sensation, but so it doesn't happen again.

Tragedies like this are no strangers to our region either, where nightclubs and bars often operate in spaces unfit for so many people. Every such piece of news from the world is also a warning closer to home - safety in the places where young people gather isn't a formality on paper, but the difference between life and death when something goes wrong.