The blaze reached the second floor of the building on Tuesday night, trapping customers and staff as thick smoke filled the stairwell and blocked an emergency exit, according to reports. Many crowded onto a balcony to escape the flames, which quickly spread through the wooden interior, while others were forced to jump from the building, state media reported on Wednesday. Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Wednesday ordered further inspection of high-risk venues, especially karaoke bars. Pictures showed plumes of smoke billowing from outside the bar – located in a busy residential neighborhood in Thuan An town, north of Ho Chi Minh City’s commercial center – as firefighters with cranes tried to put out the blaze. The Cong An Nhan Dan newspaper, the official mouthpiece of the Ministry of Public Security, said the death toll had risen to 32, with 17 men and 15 women killed. Mai Hung Dung, a top official of the ruling Communist Party in Binh Duong province where the bar is located, earlier put the death toll at 23, with 11 wounded. He said AFP officials were still looking for more victims. State media reported that eight people were found dead in the toilet. The initial cause of the fire was said to be an electrical short circuit, according to a report by Binh Duong authorities cited by state media. Witness Nguyen Sang, who lives near the karaoke bar, told the VnExpress news website that when fire engines arrived at the scene, a receptionist said there were 40 people stuck inside. “Many people ran out of the main entrance, but many others could not stand the heat and jumped down, breaking their arms and legs,” Shang said. Rescuers searched through the night for anyone trapped in the 30-room bar, state media reported. The bar’s fire prevention regulations had been checked before the fire, police told state media. In what was previously Vietnam’s deadliest fire, 13 people died in a 2018 fire at an apartment complex in Ho Chi Minh City. In 2016, a fire at a karaoke facility in the capital Hanoi left 13 dead, prompting a nationwide review of fire prevention measures in bars and clubs. Last month, three firefighters died trying to put out a fire at another karaoke bar in Hanoi.
