Indonesian karaoke fire kills 20

MEDAN, Indonesia, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- A fire at a karaoke lounge in an Indonesian provincial capital Friday killed 20 and injured more than a dozen, police say.

The fire in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra, started on the third floor of the M-City Hotel and Karaoke lounge, the Jakarta Globe reported.

About 40 employees and 100 customers were in the lounge when the fire, suspected to have been caused by an electrical short circuit, broke out at 8:30 p.m., the newspaper said.

The injured, including four in critical condition, were taken to a Medan hospital. The Medan Fire Department said most of the victims died of smoke inhalation and asphyxiation, the Globe reported.

Fire Chief Redward W. Bakkara said he dispatched 20 trucks and 70 firefighters to combat the blaze.

"Most of the victims were found on the third floor," Bakkara told the newspaper. Firefighters had trouble entering many of the lounge's rooms, he added, because they were locked.