A nightclub near Ho Chi Minh City was swamped in flames, trapping attendees inside and forcing some to leap from the second-floor building.
Digital Desk: The death toll from a fire that ripped through a karaoke club in southern Vietnam has grown to 32, according to an official media statement.
According to reports, the fire overtook the building's second level on Tuesday night, trapping customers and employees as dense smoke filled the stairway and barred the emergency escape.
Many crowded onto a balcony to escape the flames that swiftly spread throughout the timber interior, while others were forced to leap from the structure, according to official media on Wednesday.
Pham Minh Chinh, Vietnam's prime minister, ordered a further assessment of high-risk venues, including karaoke bars, on Wednesday.
As firemen on cranes attempted to extinguish the incident, plumes of smoke billowed out of the pub, which was located in a congested residential neighbourhood in Thuan An city, north of commercial capital Ho Chi Minh City.
Cong The official mouthpiece of the Public Security Ministry, Nhan Dan, said that the death toll had increased to 32, with 17 males and 15 women murdered.
Mai Hung Dung, a leading Communist Party official in Binh Duong province, where the club is located, had put the death toll at 23, with 11 wounded. He informed AFP officers that they were still looking for other victims.
According to state media, eight persons were discovered dead in the toilet.
As per Binh Duong official's reports cited by state media, the primary cause of the incident was an electrical short circuit.
Witness Nguyen Sang, who lives near the karaoke club, told the VnExpress news site that when fire vehicles came, a receptionist told them there were 40 people trapped inside.
"Many people escaped out the main door, but many others couldn't bear the heat and leaped down, shattering their hands and legs," Sang explained.
According to official media, rescue teams searched all night for anyone trapped in the 30-room pub.
Before the incident, the bar's fire safety procedures had been reviewed, according to police, who informed state media.
A fire in a Ho Chi Minh City apartment complex in 2018 claimed the lives of 13 people, making it the worst fire to ever occur in Vietnam.
13 people died in a karaoke fire in the Vietnamese city of Hanoi in 2016, which prompted an evaluation of fire safety protocols at bars and clubs across the nation.
Three firefighters perished last month while attempting to put out a fire at another karaoke club in Hanoi.
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