At least thirty-two people died and several others were injured in the fire at a karaoke bar near Ho Chi Minh City, on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday September 7. A previous report had reported twenty-three deaths in what is the deadliest disaster in Vietnam in recent years.
The disaster was declared Tuesday evening in the karaoke bar An Phu, in Thuan An, north of Ho Chi Minh City, the industrial center of the country. An electrical short circuit was the cause of the fire, according to a report by provincial authorities, quoted by state media. The fire destroyed the 2e and 3e floors of this building with four levels and thirty karaoke rooms, trapping customers and staff.
Some took refuge on a balcony as the flames grew in intensity, fueled inside by the wooden decorations. Others had to jump from the floors, described an official newspaper. “Many people escaped through the main entrance, but many more jumped out, breaking their legs and hands”a witness told the news site VNExpress.
Inspection of establishments at risk
Photos taken in the morning showed the firefighters working on cranes, near the windows from which plumes of smoke continued to escape.
Local police said the building had been checked for compliance with fire prevention measures, state media reported. Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Wednesday ordered the inspection of at-risk establishments, including karaoke bars, popular in the country.
It is the deadliest fire in Vietnam since that of a residential building in Ho Chi Minh City in 2018 which left thirteen dead. Another fire destroyed a karaoke bar in the capital, Hanoi in 2016 (thirteen dead), casting doubt on these places as to their ability to take basic safety rules into account. In August, three firefighters died trying to put out a fire at a Hanoi karaoke bar. And in Thailand, a fire in a nightclub near the seaside resort of Pattaya killed twenty-three people in early August.