PHUKET, Thailand – Residents are describing as "miraculous" and "unbelievable" reports by local authorities that no deaths or injuries were sustained following a colossal fire Wednesday (October 16th) that quickly engulfed SuperCheap, one of the largest retail outlets in Phuket.

Over 50 fire trucks from local administrative agencies across the island and neighbouring Phang Nga responded to initial reports of the blaze, which broke out around 9.30pm.

The conflagration caused a column of smoke to rise an estimated 1km high. Smoke was still visible at dawn.

Two firemen were injured battling the blaze, the Phuket Gazette reported. Search efforts to find any potential victims were delayed with the fire still smouldering.

Authorities staged a Thursday morning press conference in front of the sprawling facility to thank rescue workers for their help in controlling the blaze.

"Do not believe media reports that state 100 people or more have died in the blaze. We have checked every hospital on the island and so far there are no reports of death or even injuries due to the fire," Rassada Mayor Phudit Raksarat said in the run-up to the morning briefing.

The search for bodies inside will begin once regional Forensics Police based in Surat Thani province arrive, reporters were told.

Phudit's comments came as authorities were busy placing a banner reading "Victims Incident Report Center, SuperCheap Complex" in front of the main entrance, partially concealing an existing sign that read "Happy New Year 2009".

A whiteboard recording the names of missing victims was surprisingly bare: only two people were reported missing. One of them, 26-year-old cashier Daa Choodum, was later reported as safe and sound.

There were also reports of nearby homes destroyed. The SuperCheap complex is surrounded by a large "workers camp" housing scores of low-wage workers, many from Burma.

Identifying any Burmese victims will be difficult as many are unregistered. Some rescue workers told Khabar they believed the reports that everyone managed to escape the facility.

"If nobody was killed or injured in that fire it will truly be a miracle, but it is hard to believe at this point. We are lucky it started late in the day as staff were getting ready to close down and the number of people was relatively small," local shop owner Pranee Sae-lim told Khabar.

In neighbouring Koh Kaew, local mechanic Safee Aroon told Khabar, "It's amazing that this did not happen a long time ago, as safety standards inside have always been poor. We can only thank Allah if there really were no deaths, but I think we need to wait and see."