17 killed, scores injured in bar fire

17 people died and scores were injured when a fire broke out in a packed karaoke bar in the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, police said.

Witnesses said the fire started on the second floor of the three-storey building at about 1:00 am local time on Sunday. At the time, the Inul Vizta karaoke club in Manado, North Sulawesi province, was packed with hundreds of people singing in private rooms, said the city’s police chief, Col Rio Permana. Workers were unable to put out the fires with extinguishers.

“We are still investigating the cause of fire,” Permana said, but a preliminary investigation indicated a short circuit.

Panicked people smashed windows to flee as black smoke spread through the building, while others fled into the street. However, several people remained stuck inside the building with black smoke billowing from the second floor because there was only one door to the building.

 “The fire filled the rooms and corridors with thick black smoke and people started panicking and running helter-skelter in the dark,” provincial police spokesman Wilson Damanik told AFP news agency.

“Some inhaled the smoke while others tried to escape by jumping out of the windows onto the street,” he said.

Most of the victims are said to have died from smoke inhalation, while 71 others were hospitalised for their injuries.

All 17 people who died were Indonesian. Most died from smoke inhalation rather than burns, Permana said.