Seventeen people have died in a fire that tore through a packed karaoke bar early on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, with 71 others taken to hospital for smoke inhalation.

Witnesses said the fire started on the second floor of the three-storey building at about 1am on Sunday. At the time, the Inul Vizta karaoke club in Manado, North Sulawesi province, was packed with hundreds of people singing in private rooms, said the city’s police chief, Col Rio Permana. Workers were unable to put out the fires with extinguishers.

Many complained that fire engines took an hour to arrive. It took firefighters several hours to bring the blaze under control.

“We are still investigating the cause of fire,” Permana said, but a preliminary investigation indicated a short circuit.

He said some people smashed windows and fled into the street while many others were stuck inside with black smoke billowing from the second floor because there was only one door to the building.

All 17 people who died were Indonesian. Most died from smoke inhalation rather than burns, Permana said.