August 21, 2012
BANGKOK (AFP) - Thai police confirmed Tuesday that a 24-year-old British man was one of the four victims killed in a fire at a nightclub on the resort island of Phuket last week.
Dental records from Britain helped confirm the identify of Michael Pio Tzouvanni, said deputy national police chief Lieutenant General Jaramporn Suramanee, who added the man died "from suffocation and smoke inhalation".
Police are still waiting for DNA samples from relatives of a missing Frenchman and two Thai women to determine whether they are the three other victims, he said. All four bodies were burnt beyond recognition.
Eleven other people were injured in the pre-dawn blaze at the Tiger disco in the seaside resort of Patong on Friday. The cause has not yet been established.
The fire was another blow to Thailand's image as the "Land of Smiles", which has been tarnished in recent years by deadly political unrest, devastating floods, and concerns about violent crimes against foreigners.
Safety standards in the kingdom are generally poor and deaths involving tourists are common.
