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Indonesian club fire kills 12 and injures 70

Sunday, 25 October 2015 3:33 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 25 October 2015 3:33 PM ]

People look at the fire-damaged three-storey Inul Vizta karaoke club in the provincial capital of North Sulawesi, October 25, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

A blaze at a crowded Indonesian karaoke club has led to the death of at least 12 people on Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island.

Early on Sunday, the fire, which was reportedly caused by an electrical short-circuit, ripped through the second floor of the three-story Inul Vizta club in central Manado, the capital of the North Sulawesi Province.

“The fire filled the rooms and corridors with thick black smoke and people started panicking and running helter-skelter in the dark. Some inhaled the smoke while others tried to escape by jumping out of the windows onto the street,” provincial police spokesman Wilson Damanik said.

“So far, 12 people have died, mostly from smoke inhalation,” he said, adding they were all Indonesians.

According to Indonesian Red Cross official Mahmud Paputungan, the estimated number of people injured is “around 70.”

“Many of them suffered broken bones from jumping from the third story,” he said.

Police chief Colonel Rio Permana said that workers were unable to put out fires with extinguishers and many complained that fire engines arrived an hour after the alarm was raised.

“It took firefighters several hours to bring the blaze under control and there was only one access door to the building,” he said.

Police are still checking the soot-blackened premises for more possible victims.

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