A fire at a nightclub in Indonesia’s West Papua province have left at least 19 people dead.
The fire followed a brawl in which one person was killed, but the other victims were trapped by the fire that broke out at the Double O club in Sorong city, officials said.
It is unclear how the fire began. The brawl was not believed to be part of the separatist insurgency that has affected other parts of West Papua.
Police said they tried to evacuate people from the venue after the violent clash began at the nightclub at 23:00 local time (14:00 GMT) on Monday, 24 January.
A resultant fire then engulfed the large building burning from the first floor.
After firefighters extinguished the blaze on Tuesday morning, they discovered 18 bodies in one of the nightclub’s upper-floor rooms.
Police have deployed security forces in the town to prevent any further gang clashes, AFP news agency reports.
The area has been relatively unaffected by clashes between separatist rebels and Indonesian security forces in other parts of the province.
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