A fire at a karaoke bar killed 13 people and injured two police officers in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi, an official said Wednesday (Nov 2).

HANOI: Vietnam has opened an investigation into a blaze which killed 13 at a karaoke bar and took several hours to put out, as officials said on Wednesday (Nov 2) some victims likely suffocated in windowless rooms.

Most of the dead were government workers enjoying a staff party when the fire broke out Tuesday afternoon in the multi-storey building in Hanoi's commercial Cau Giay district and quickly tore through neighbouring buildings.

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Inspectors picked through rubble in the charred building Wednesday, where broken beer bottles were scattered and several motorbikes burnt to a crisp.

"Hundreds of firemen and police officers were mobilised to extinguish the fire," The Chung, a ward official told AFP, adding that two police officers were being treated for injuries sustained while trying to put out the blaze.

State-run media quoted an official as saying 11 of the victims were government employees from a political training academy.

"They went out partying after finishing a test during a political training course," Hanoi's party chief Hoang Trung Hai said, according to Tuoi Tre newspaper.

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He added trapped patrons likely suffocated inside the windowless karaoke rooms that spanned several floors.

All trainees from the academy have been ordered to seek approval from the director before joining social gatherings during or after work hours, according to an official document published in local media.

Reports quoted an official as saying the fire was likely sparked by welders working on a signpost at the bar - which was unlicensed.

The national fire department has ordered a country-wide assessment of fire prevention measures at all karaoke bars, clubs and restaurants, and all karaoke venues in Cau Giay have been closed for inspection, according to state media.

'I WAS TERRIFIED'



Locals described scenes of chaos on Tuesday as firefighters battled to put out the blaze. "I was carrying my stuff when I saw the fire suddenly started," said Do Thi Kha, 77, a food vendor in the area.

"The fire spread over to two or three neighbouring buildings before I saw fire trucks come in. It was terrible. I was terrified. They did not have enough water to extinguish the fire," she told AFP.

Another witness said the fire burned for more than five hours and worsened when it ignited fuel tanks in cars parked nearby.

"Trucks had to keep coming back and forth with water as there was not enough. That was why it took so long to extinguish," said 69-year-old Nguyen Dinh Sau.

Police opened an investigation after Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said authorities should "seriously punish" anyone responsible for the disaster.

Karaoke bars are popular hangouts in communist Vietnam, among government officials and young people alike, and Tuesday's fire was not the first of its kind in the capital.

In May 2014 five people burned to death at a karaoke bar in Hanoi after an electrical fault triggered a massive blaze.

Another karaoke venue in the city went up in flames in September this year, but no casualties were reported.

Blazes are common at houses, bars and restaurants in Vietnam, where fire prevention and firefighting is limited.</s>HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A fire at a large karaoke parlor in Vietnam’s capital killed 13 people on Tuesday, state media said.

The fire broke out at the eight-story karaoke parlor in Hanoi and quickly spread to several nearby buildings housing restaurants and other karaoke parlors, they said. It took firefighters about five hours to put out the blaze.

Online newspaper VnExpress quoted Maj. Gen. Doan Viet Manh of the fire department as saying that 13 bodies were recovered from the scene.

State-controlled media quoted a guard at the karaoke parlor as saying the fire started at its sign board, and staff tried to put it out but failed.

Government officials were not available for comment late Tuesday.

In a statement on a government website, Premier Nguyen Xuan Phuc asked local authorities to search for victims and ordered police to carry out a prompt investigation and punish anyone who violated the law.</s>A fire that broke out at a karaoke lounge in Vietnam's capital killed at least 13 people, the government said on Wednesday, in a rare accident of its kind for which the prime minister demanded an investigation and punishment for safety violations.

The fire started around lunchtime on Tuesday in a crowded residential area on the outskirts of Hanoi and flames quickly spread to engulf three neighboring houses as clouds of black smoke filled the air, a Reuters witness said.

It took more than two hours for fire teams to put out the flames to allow rescuers to start searching for victims, the government said in a statement on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc "instructed Hanoi police to soon investigate and find the cause as well as to deal strictly with any violations," the government said in an earlier statement.

Phuc also asked Hanoi city government to close down karaoke parlors and restaurants which fail to observe fire preventive measures.

Police in charge of fire fighting ordered an urgent inspection on fire preventive measures in public places in major cities nationwide, focusing on karaoke parlors, discotheques, bars and restaurants, the government said.

Karaoke remains popular in Vietnam and is often picked as entertainment for large groups of people. However, fire drills at such places are rarely conducted and exits not always provided.</s>It borders on cultural phenomenon. The New York Times put it on a short list of destinations for swank libations. Thrillist exalted it as L.A.'s favorite on its roundup of the country's best wine bars: a massive wine selection printed nowhere and instead individually concierged into your glass by an encyclopedic bartender (armed by a lauded wine director).

But on paper at Los Angeles City Hall, Bar Covell was a juice bar. Dustin Lancaster, who founded Covell on his own vision after years of tending bar at Café Stella, learned about the discrepancy when it was time to renew his use permit, the city's approved record for a specific category of business. Somehow Covell was licensed to serve alcohol by the city and the state while another department logged it as a juice spot, even through another round of related permitting when Lancaster expanded Covell's square footage in 2011 and then got clearance in 2014 to build his five-room Hotel Covell directly above the bar.

All permitting applications were completed to the letter — from Covell's side of the transactions. Elizabeth Peterson, who assisted Bar Covell with its alcohol permit, has also completed the process for other prominent local bars Library Bar, Broadway Bar and The Association. Asked if this had happened to any of her other clients, she said it had not, but for others, "it happens. Sometimes construction [permitting] and [the city's records for the type of] use need to catch up to each other."

So last Thursday, Lancaster, now a fully-fledged restaurateur with L&E Oyster Bar, El Condor, Sidebar, Hermosillo, Highland Park Brewery, Augustine, and the Hi-Hat in his portfolio, went to City Hall to convince a planning administrator to let him do what he's been doing for years with great success and no incidents.

Bar Covell's landord Dan Mellinkoff spoke at the hearing, urging Jack Chiang, the Associate Zoning Administrator who heard the case, to allow Covell to continue operating as what Mellinkoff considers an anchor for other businesses in its nook on Hollywood Boulevard near Vermont Avenue, at the nexus of Los Feliz, East Hollywood and Silver Lake. When the previous tenants — a driving school, an eyeglass store, and a casting studio — were there, the neighborhood lacked a sense of community, he said.

Mellinkoff believes Covell magnetized Go Get Em Tiger's coffee and HomeState's tacos to the ever more populated strip. Soon, a McConnell's ice cream franchise will open next door.

Chiang cleared Bar Covell to carry on, pending promised written support from the local neighborhood council. "I'm inclined to approve this project," Chiang told Lancaster and Bar Covell co-owner Matthew Kaner. The East Hollywood Neighborhood Council and the police department have until Nov. 30 to log their support, the last step before a written decision from Chiang makes Bar Covell official in city records.

Lancaster and Kaner weren't told who exactly dropped the ball. They're not sweating it. "Once we found that [city records needed an update] we were happy to correct it," Lancaster said after the hearing. Asked for an explanation of where the city went wrong, Chief Zoning Administrator Linn Wiatt said in an email that the details of the slip "are not within the purview of the Office of Zoning Administration" and may be answered by other departments.

All at Bar Covell will be business as usual. Lancaster said, "We'll continue to try to make the neighborhood happy."
A fire at a karaoke bar in Hanoi's Cầu Giấy district kills 13 people.