THE number of Singaporeans who died in the Santika Club fire in Bangkok on New Year's Day has risen to three, with two more bodies identified through DNA samples and dental records.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement yesterday that the two - Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) officer Leslie Yeo, 40, and student Lu Weiye, 26 - were identified by the Thai authorities.
Mr Lu was waiting to enrol in Thailand's Assumption Business Administration College. Mr Yeo was the colleague of Mr Teo Sze Siong, the first Singaporean to be identified among the dead in the blaze, which claimed at least 61 lives.
The MFA said it will help bring back the bodies of Mr Lu and Mr Yeo, and will arrange for their families to travel to Bangkok.
Yesterday, grief-stricken relatives and friends gathered at Mr Yeo's flat in Punggol and Mr Teo's wake in Toa Payoh.
Colleagues who knew Mr Yeo described him as a humble person who enjoyed bowling and was close to Mr Teo, an air-traffic controller.
The two would often go bowling together, they said. Mr Teo's colleagues have set up a group on online social-networking site Facebook in his memory.
Mr Teo's sister-in-law, Madam Julie Lim, 44, said he was a "filial son" who was very close to his mother.
Close friend and colleague Lee Chee Chong, 38, said Mr Teo was "more than a brother" to him.
He was among many who turned up to pay their respects at Mr Teo's wake yesterday.
They stood in small groups, spoke in hushed tones and, at one point, comforted another colleague who broke down. CAAS said in a statement that it had provided counselling for its staff.
Mr Lee said he had known Mr Teo since both were pupils at St Gabriel's Primary School. Mr Lee said: "I hope people will remember the good times they spent with Siong, rather than what happened."
Referring to Mr Teo as "Siong", Mr Lee said his friend fell in love with his first and only girlfriend, Madam Ho Mei Shih, when they were studying at Jurong Junior College, and eventually married her.
Madam Ho, who was in China when the blaze happened, took the first flight home the next day when she found out about his death.
Her final memory of him: An SMS he sent from Bangkok just minutes before Jan 1 to wish her a happy new year.
