Vietnam: 11 dead in karaoke bar fire in Hanoi

Eleven people died and two others were injured in the fire at a karaoke bar in Hanoi, police said Thursday, who are favoring the possibility of a criminal act and have arrested a suspect.

The building, located in the west of Vietnam’s capital, was largely destroyed by flames, according to images published by state media.

Police said they were alerted to the fire around 11 p.m. (1700 GMT) on Wednesday, when the building had “many people trapped” inside it.

“Police suspect the cafe was (deliberately) set on fire”

Rescue workers rushed to the scene and managed to pull out seven people alive, two of whom were taken to hospital. Eleven people were found dead, according to police.

AFP images show rescuers taking care of a victim placed on a stretcher, firefighters trying to put out the fire, but also piles of charred objects, including motorcycles.

“The police suspect that the cafe was (deliberately) set on fire,” and “arrested the perpetrator” around midnight, Hanoi police said in a statement.

“We shouted to call the trapped victims”

Witnesses told state media that the fire was so big that no one dared to try to rescue those inside.

“We shouted for the trapped victims, but we didn’t hear anyone calling for help from the building,” Nguyen Minh Hung, who was nearby, told Vietnamese newspaper Dan Tri.

Video surveillance images taken from a nearby location show a man with a bucket entering the perimeter shortly before the fire broke out, state media said.

Spilled gasoline

According to the police, the arrested suspect had gone to this karaoke bar to drink a beer before arguing with the staff. He then bought gasoline which he poured into an area with many motorcycles which then caught fire.

In October, six people including four police officers were jailed for the fire at another karaoke bar in 2022, in which 32 people died.

The disaster, which occurred in a province near the southern business center of Ho Chi Minh City, shocked the country and led to the closure of thousands of establishments of the same type across Vietnam for non-compliance with anti- fire. More than two thirds of the country’s approximately 15,000 karaoke bars have had to close their doors, according to state media, relying on police sources.

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