Fire at karaoke parlor in southern Vietnam kills 32

HANOI, Vietnam — The death toll from a fire at a karaoke parlor in southern Vietnam has risen to 32, state media reported.

The fire that began late Tuesday trapped workers and customers inside the multi-story venue in Thuan An city in Binh Duong province, state media said. The fire was brought under control quickly but smoldered into the next day.

Vietnam News Agency reported 32 deaths from the blaze as of late Wednesday and at least one karaoke room and one storage room have not been accessed because the temperature remained high.

Some people were injured from asphyxiation and others suffered broken limbs when they jumped from upper floors to try to escape the fire, reports said. Firefighters using ladders from their trucks managed to rescue others.

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc extended his condolences to families of the victims.

The president also asked government officials to support the families and quickly find the cause of the blaze. The preliminary finding was that it was caused by an electrical short circuit and started on the second or third floor.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — At least 14 people died in a fire that broke out at a karaoke parlor in southern Vietnam, local media reported Wednesday.

At least 40 other people were injured in the fire at the four-story venue in Thuan An city in the province of Binh Duong that began at about 9 p.m. Tuesday, trapping staff and customers inside, according to reports on the websites of Tuoi Tre newspaper and other Vietnamese media.

They said the fire was under control within an hour but still smoldering on Wednesday, more than 12 hours later.

The reports said some people were injured from asphyxiation and others with broken limbs when they jumped from upper floors to try to escape the fire. Firefighters using ladders from their trucks managed to rescue others.

Provincial authorities said they were investigating the cause of the blaze, which broke out on the second or third floor.

Enforcement of safety standards at entertainment venues in many parts of Southeast Asia is sometimes lax and believed to contribute to multiple deaths in case of fires.

Police in Thailand said that a pub in the eastern province of Chonburi was presenting live entertainment without a license when a fire broke out in early August, trapping many people inside because exits were blocked or locked.

Twenty-three people had died from that fire so far, 13 of them on the night of the blaze and 10 in the month since then. Many had serious burns over most of their bodies, which are extremely difficult to guard against deadly infections. At least five other victims are believed to still be on ventilators.