At least 19 people have died as a blaze swept through a karaoke bar following a brawl between rival gangs in Indonesia, said police.
One person was fatally stabbed in the fight early on Tuesday before the venue in West Papua was set on fire with 18 people trapped inside, a police official in the provincial capital of Sorong said.
"Fights among youths in cities are normal, but that it has caused so many deaths, that is a first," Adam Erwini, a spokesman for West Papua police, told Metro TV.
Mr Erwini said the deadly incident at the Double O nightclub in Sorong was still under investigation, and it was unclear if the death toll would rise.
Separately, Dedi Prasetyo, a spokesman for Indonesia's national police said the brawl was between two rival gangs from the neighbouring island of Maluku.
Pictures shared of the karaoke bar revealed it to be completely engulfed by the fire, with people hiding behind a car for protection against the flames.
Mr Erwini added that the investigation would include police officers speaking to the leaders of the gangs.
It is also reported that vehicles outside the karaoke bar were set on fire during the fight.
Sorong Metropolitan Police Chief Grand Commissioner Attendant Ary Nyoto Setiawan said that fire fighters found 11 bodies in one room.
"We thought everyone inside the karaoke house had evacuated when police came to the scene to help rescue people. However, when fire workers arrived to put out the flame, they found 11 bodies in one room," Mr Nyoto Setiawan told local media.
"We don’t know with certainty the number of casualties as the investigation is under way but the fire department pulled 11 bodies from a room in the karaoke house and another victim who died from stab wounds has been evacuated earlier."
