Preliminary investigations suggest the fire was caused by a short circuit in an air conditioner, which quickly cut power to the entire bar.

But several people who had previously visited the bar described it as a dark room even in its original state. Phatsara Khamloet, who visited in May, told BBC Thai she had to navigate a “winding route” to get to the toilet and noted that the exits were not well marked.

Busakorn Saensuk, a fire safety expert at the Institute of Engineering of Thailand who inspected the aftermath of Rong Beer Na Lat Phrao, said the door near the toilets was locked, while the two doors at the entrance were partially obstructed by furniture and other objects.

Customers would have instinctively fled from the fire, towards the back where the toilets were, Busakorn tells BBC Thai.

“But once they got to the back, they couldn’t get out.

“If the emergency signals were on, people would have been able to see how the door was closed and maybe they would have been able to unlock it,” he says.

Busakorn also noted that the stage was decorated with highly flammable materials, such as plastic flowers, while the ceiling was lined with combustible foam.

Survivors have described the stage being engulfed in flames in a matter of seconds. Thai indie band Thotsakan, who were performing at the time of the fire, lost two members in the tragedy.