Hundreds of caged animals perish in Bangkok market fire

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – Hundreds of caged animals, including pets, perished in a pre-dawn fire that engulfed a market in Thailand on Tuesday.

According to public broadcaster Thai PBS, the blaze erupted at the Chatuchak Market in the capital Bangkok, with more than 100 shops damaged and hundreds of animals killed.

The fire was reported at 4.30 a.m. (2130GMT), burning all 118 stores in the market's pet zone.

It took firefighters around an hour to extinguish the flames as officials began probing to find the cause of the incident.

According to a municipal official, the fire "started in the Srisomrat tropical fish market and several hundred pets, including birds, dogs, cats, chickens and snakes, were burned to death because they were caged and their owners were unable to move them to safety in time."