Death toll from Bangkok music bar fire rises to 30

The death toll from a huge fire in a Bangkok music bar has increased to 30, officials said Tuesday, as the investigation into the blaze proceeded while relatives of the victims took on the grim task of identifying their loved ones and retrieving their bodies.

More than 70 people were injured in the Sunday night tragedy, with 24 of them still in critical condition, according to a statement by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.

Initial details about the victims, which have not been updated since Monday, said 18 of the dead were women and nine were men, all Thai except one bar employee from Laos. The injured included 41 women and 34 men.

The blaze at the Rong Beer Na Ladprao bar, the city’s deadliest in 17 years, broke out shortly before midnight in a northern part of the Thai capital. Firefighters needed half an hour to bring it under control.