More than a thousand exotic animals, reptiles and pets perished in a sprawling market in Thailand's capital Bangkok after a fire ripped through over a hundred shops in the early hours of Tuesday (June 11), authorities said. - REUTERS
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00:00Over a thousand exotic animals have perished in a market fire in Thailand.
00:06The blaze ripped through almost 14,000 square feet of the Chatuchak market in the early
00:12hours of Tuesday.
00:14It is a popular tourist attraction, best known for its packed shops full of fashion and accessories.
00:21Exotic animals such as snake, spiders and Siamese fighting fish were also sold in the
00:26market, attracting thousands of visitors each weekend.
00:31Adasek says the snakes he sold were trapped in their boxes and couldn't escape.
00:38Sawani Sandy, who sells Siamese fighting fish, says her shop was the family's main source
00:43of income.
00:44Since I learned the news when I got the call, I've been in shock.
00:53I feel like I wanted to cry, but there are no tears.
00:56I don't know how to react as the school is about to start, then there's the mortgage
01:00and the car instalments.
01:02The earnings from running the shop, raising the better fish and exporting them were used
01:05to pay for all of these things.
01:07I have to try and keep myself sane and work out how I'm going to sort out my finances.
01:13I also don't know how we'll be compensated.
01:15Will they find a new place for us?
01:17We're totally blank.
01:19Like this month, we've paid the rent, but we don't know what's going to happen next
01:22month with no place to sell.
01:30Firefighters and rescue workers picked through carcasses, mangled cages, blackened walls
01:36and collapsed metal shop roofs.
01:39More than a hundred shops were burnt down, according to police.
01:43They said an initial inspection suggested that the fire was caused by an electric fault.