The blaze was sparked by a short circuit on the second floor of the popular three-storey Inul Vizta club in the provincial capital of North Sulawesi after midnight, causing panic among the customers who were singing in private rooms, provincial police spokesman Wilson Damanik told AFP.
“The fire filled the rooms and corridors with thick black smoke and people started panicking and running helter-skelter in the dark. Some inhaled the smoke while others tried to escape by jumping out of the windows onto the street,” he said.