The death toll from a fire that destroyed a karaoke bar in southern Vietnam has risen to 32, state media said on Wednesday.
The blaze engulfed the building’s second floor on Tuesday night, engulfing customers and employees as thick smoke filled the stairs and blocked the emergency exit, reports said.
Many crowded onto a balcony to escape the flames, which grew rapidly as they engulfed the wooden interior, while others were forced to jump from the building, state media added.
Photos showed plumes of smoke billowing from the bar in a crowded residential area in the city of Thuan An, north of the Ho Chi Minh City commercial hub, as firefighters on cranes tried to douse the blaze.
The Cong An Nhan Dan newspaper, the official mouthpiece of the Ministry of Public Security, said the death toll from the karaoke fire has risen to 32, killing 17 men and 15 women.
Mai Hung Dung, a top official with the ruling Communist Party in Binh Duong province, where the bar is located, previously put the death toll at 23 and 11 injured. He said AFP officials were still searching for more victims.
State media reported that eight people were found dead in the toilet.
According to a report by the Binh Duong authorities quoted by state media, the initial cause of the fire was an electrical short circuit.
Witness Nguyen Sang, who lives near the karaoke bar, told news site VnExpress that a receptionist said when the fire trucks arrived at the scene, 40 people were trapped inside.
“Many people ran outside through the main entrance, but many others could not bear the heat and jumped down, breaking their hands and legs,” Sang said.
Rescue workers searched throughout the night for people trapped in the 30-room bar, according to state media.
The fire safety regulations of the karaoke facility were checked before the fire, the police said to state media.
In 2018, Vietnam’s deadliest fire to date killed 13 people in a blaze at an apartment complex in Ho Chi Minh City.
In 2016, a fire at a karaoke facility in the capital Hanoi killed 13 people, prompting a nationwide assessment of fire safety measures in bars and clubs.
Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Wednesday ordered another inspection of high-risk venues, particularly karaoke bars.
Last month, three firefighters died after trying to put out a fire at another karaoke bar in Hanoi.
