Made in Laos fair postponed to July after fire damages venue

The 10-day Made in Laos exhibition, which was set to open on Friday morning, will now take place in July after a fire broke out at the Lao International Trade Exhibition and Convention Centre (Lao-ITECC) and engulfed over 20 stalls.
Close to 400 stalls had been set up in readiness for the exhibition which was due to open at 10 am on Friday and continue until May 19.
Speaking at a press conference held later in the day, the Managing Director of Lao World Public Company, Mr Sibountham Sibounmy, said “We

discovered the fire at 8:34 am. Our staff switched on the electricity and air-conditioning before they opened up the building and found a fire at a stall stocked with car accessories. They immediately attempted to douse it but the flames spread very quickly.”
“We called the fire service and seven fire engines arrived to bring the blaze under control. It took the crews about 45 minutes to extinguish the flames completely. The police and other officials are investigating the scene, checking CCTV footage and assessing the damage,” he added.
“There were 382 stalls altogether of which 24 were damaged,” Mr Sibountham said.
According to an initial report issued recently by the Vientiane Public Security Headquarters, it is believed the fire was caused by an electrical fault in the wiring connected to the car accessory sales booth. Officials are currently in the process of assessing the cost of the damage caused to other stalls.
Vice President of the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mrs Chanthachone Vongxay, said the exhibition was an annual event and there was great interest in it by a large number of businesses and individuals but unfortunately, because of the fire, it would not be able to take place as planned. They now hoped to stage the Made in Laos exhibition from July 20-28.
An officer with Vientiane Rescue 1623, which is supervised by the Foundation for Assisting Poor People of the Lao PDR, Mr Phaichit Konpathoum, told Vientiane Times his team of fire fighters and volunteers was called to the scene where they worked alongside a crew from the Fire Prevention and Protection Police Department to tackle the fire.
“Firemen hosed water from fire engines operated by the Fire Prevention and Protection Police Department, the Vientiane Fire Prevention and Protection Police Department and Vientiane Rescue 1623 onto the burning building where the flames spread rapidly amongst the clothes stalls,” he said.

By Phomphong Laoin
(Latest Update May 13, 2019)