Horror as 1,000 pets including dogs and cats are burnt alive in their cages after blaze rips through famed open-air market in Bangkok

Up to 1,000 pets including dogs and cats have been burnt alive after a fire struck a popular open-air market in Bangkok.

The fire at Chatuchak market, located in Thailand‘s capital city, was reported early on Tuesday morning and quickly swept across more than 100 shops in the market’s pet section, according to the Bangkok government.

Officials said it took them about an hour to bring the fire under control, but added that no human casualties or injuries have been reported.

However, the fire killed several hundred animals, including puppies, fish, snakes, birds and rabbits, kept in cages and locked inside the shops.

The cause of the fire is being investigated, said Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt, who visited the scene after the fire was put out.

Officials could be seen at the site, inspecting the charred shops or breaking metal gates to bring out animals that survived the fire.

They added that they are still working on estimating the cost of the damage, and that affected shop owners could register for compensation. 

According to an initial inspection, the blaze damaged most of the 118 shops in the pet zone, which covers about 1,400 square metres (15,000 square feet).

The sprawling weekend market is a major tourist draw, bringing in shoppers from all over the world to browse its hundreds of shops and stalls for items ranging from food and drink to clothing, furniture, plants, books and pets.

Despite being a major attraction to visitors, the market has come in for criticism due to the poor conditions that livestock are forced to live in.  

Wildlife organisations have often accused some vendors of involvement in the trafficking of rare and endangered species, such as turtles, tortoises and birds.

Speaking to BBC News, Amporn Wannasut, a shop owner who rushed to the market after being alerted to the fire, said: ‘When I got here, everything was gone, all burned down’. 

‘I couldn’t do anything because it was dark inside as well. I couldn’t help them at all. They were all gone.’ 

‘I don’t even know what to do next. I think we have to start all over again but I don’t know how,’ she adds. ‘I froze some of the dead snakes so that we can calculate how much [money] we lost.’