17 people have died and more than 70 others have been injured following a fire at a packed karaoke bar in Indonesia.

More than 70 others were taken to hospital when the flames ripped through the crowded club in Manado on Sulawesi Island.

The cause of the fire is being investigated.

It has been reported that all the people who died were Indonesian, with a majority having died of smoke inhalation. 

Police spokesman Wilson Damanik told AFP that "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 added.