Crime
Michael Pio Tzouvanni From UK Confirmed Dead in Fire
Chiangrai Times – Michael Pio Tzouvanni, 24, from London has been confirmed as one of four people killed when a fire swept through a nightclub in Thailand.
Michael Pio Tzouvanni was caught up in the blaze at the Tiger Discotheque on the island of Phuket in the early hours of Friday. He had been with two friends but split up from them just before the fire broke out.
Dental records from Britain helped confirm the identity of Michael Pio Tzouvanni, said deputy national police chief Lieutenant General Jaramporn Suramanee, who added the man died “from suffocation and smoke inhalation”.
Mr Tzouvanni’s older brother, Joseph, said his brother had telephoned him, saying: “There is a fire in this club.”
“He was very calm, maybe because he is calm, loving person,” his brother said. “Maybe he knew? I don’t know.” After that the line went dead, he added.
Mr Tsouvanni graduated from the University of Northumbria and became a director of his family’s property company.
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.
A spokeswoman for the family said they were too upset to talk.
A Foreign Office spokesman confirmed officials were providing consular assistance to the family.
