Submit your Article

At least 14 people were killed and around 40 others injured after a fire swept through a nightclub in Chonburi province in south-eastern Thailand, BBC reported.

The fire broke out at 01:00 local time on Friday (18:00 GMT Thursday) at the Mountain B nightspot in Sattahip district, police said.

Footage shows people screaming as they flee, some with clothes on fire. 

The cause of the fire is not clear, with rescuers saying flammable material on the walls may have exacerbated it. 

The venue in Chonburi, a province located 150km (90 miles) south of Bangkok, was a single-storey complex measuring 4,800 square metres (51,660 square feet).

Firefighters battled for more than two hours to bring the fire under control, local media reported. The blaze apparently broke out during a live music performance at the venue, according to the mother of one of the music performers who died in the incident.

Bodies of the victims were mostly found near the entrance and in the bathrooms. Others were found near the DJ booth. 

So far, all those who died are believed to be Thai nationals. 

Officials from the Sawang Rojanathammasathan Rescue Foundation said flammable acoustic foam on the club's walls might have accelerated the speed at which the fire tore through the venue. 

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Friday ordered an investigation into the fire, and said that families of the victims would receive aid from authorities. He also urged entertainment venues nationwide to ensure they had proper emergency exits and safety measures in place.

Officials said the venue had been turned from a restaurant into a nightclub and was likely operating without permission, according to BBC.

This is not the first time a deadly fire has broken out in a Thai nightclub. 

In 2009, more than 60 people died in Bangkok after a fire spread at the Santika Club in the early hours of New Year's Day. Two men, including the owner of the club, were jailed in 2011.

And a fire at a nightclub in the popular Thai tourist destination of Phuket in 2012 killed four people and injured about a dozen others.

A campaign has been put in place to eradicate tuberculosis from Nepal by 2050.

Minister for Health and Population Bhawani Prasad Khapung inaugurated a workshop organized by the National Tuberculosis Control Center here today to review and expand the Tuberculosis-Free Nepal campaign.

Minister Khapung called for cooperation from NGOs, INGOs and international stakeholders to eradicate tuberculosis from Nepal within the stipulated time.

The campaign is being launched in 25 local levels at present and would be expanded to all 753 local levels within four years, the Minister said.

Similarly, Shyam Sundar Yadav, secretary at the Ministry of Health and Population, viewed that if local level would track down tuberculosis patients at every home and relay information to the Centre, the patients would avail medical intervention on time.

Janakpur Sub-Metropolitan City Mayor Manoj Kumar Shah opined that many people would be benefited if the campaign was taken forward in coordination and collaboration with the people's representatives.

Last year around 17,000 people died of tuberculosis in Nepal on the part of concerned authorities' managerial weakness, shared tuberculosis experts Dr Dirgha Singh Bom, Dr Rajendra Panta and Dr Maheshwor Shrestha. They pressed for an effective strategy to eliminate tuberculosis from the country.

Centre's executive director Sanjay Thakur shed light on the campaign in the workshop attended by representatives from various provinces of the country.

Nepal reported 912 new Covid-19 cases and one death on Friday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 2, 941 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 529 returned positive. Likewise, 3, 550 people underwent antigen tests, of which 383 were tested positive.

The Ministry said that 370 infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 5, 760 active cases in the country.

Rains are likely to take place across the country today while thunder and lightning could take place in some places, according to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology.

The Department said there is a chance of light to moderate rain with thunder and lightning in many parts of the country due to an active monsoon system.

Likewise, heavy rain is likely to occur in one or two places of the Sudurpaschim Province.

However, the Department said there will be slight rainfall in coming two to three days due to weak monsoon system as the low pressure line of the monsoon has moved to south from its normal position.

At present, there is partial to moderate rain in few places of Ganaki and Karnali provinces while the rainfall is light to moderate in Province No. 1 and Sudurpaschim.

During the night, it will be normal to partly cloudy in some parts of the country and partial to normal rain in Province No. 1 and Madhes Province.

Furthermore, there will be light to partial rain with thunder and lightning in few places across the country and heavy rain in one or two places of Bagmati and Gandaki provinces on Saturday.