Updated 03.10 | Published 02.19
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full screen Firefighters work at the scene of a karaoke bar fire in Hanoi on Wednesday night, local time. Photo: Hau Dinh/AP/TT
Eleven people have died and two have been injured in a fire at a karaoke bar in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi.
The police were alerted at 23:00 local time that many people were trapped inside the burning premises. The emergency services managed to get seven people out alive, two of whom were taken to hospital with injuries.
Images in Vietnamese media show the sooty multi-storey building in western Hanoi, largely destroyed by the flames.
“The police suspect that the bar was deliberately burned down,” the local police said in a statement. One person has been arrested.
Two years ago, 32 people died in a massive fire at a karaoke bar in Ho Chi Minh City. The incident shocked Vietnam and led to more than two-thirds of the country’s roughly 15,000 karaoke bars being forced to close for failing to meet fire regulations.
Six people, including four police officers, were sentenced to prison in October for involvement in that fire.