A nightclub in Indonesia's West Papua province burned down after two community groups clashed inside the building, killing 19 people, officials said Tuesday.
Members of the two groups attacked each other with machetes, arrows and Molotov cocktails, police spokesperson Ahmad Ramadhan said at a news conference.
One of the dead was a member of the groups that clashed. Eighteen bodies were found after the fire Monday night at the club in Sorong city. One victim was stabbed and 18 more died in the blaze at the Double O nightclub, officials said.
The clash at the nightclub followed an altercation that took place on Saturday night between the same groups because of a misunderstanding, Sorong police chief Ary Nyoto Setiawan said, according to The Associated Press (AP).
"We called them and mediated but they continued with the clash until late night,” Setiawan said, adding police evacuated visitors of the nightclub during the clash, but firefighters later found 18 bodies in one of the rooms inside the building. Police are still investigating what caused the clash and whether the fire was set or was accidental.
"The West Papua Regional Police immediately coordinated with religious and traditional leaders to avoid further clashes," said Ahmad Ramadhan, the Indonesian police's spokesperson.
The nightclub, a large red and white building, was left gutted by the blaze and a burnt-out vehicle was seen lying on its side by the blackened entrance.
"The club was burnt from the first floor," Setiawan said. "We tried to evacuate as many people as possible, but after the firefighters extinguished the fire this morning, we found some bodies there."
Police have deployed forces in the town to prevent any further clashes, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist.
Sorong, gateway to the coral-rich Raja Ampat islands, is the largest city in West Papua province and home to a major port. It is relatively quiet compared to other regions of West Papua, which have seen clashes due to the ongoing insurgency between separatists and Indonesian security forces.
Rebels have recently escalated their fight, targeting road contractors, as well as schools and clinics they say have links to the military. Authorities have responded by reinforcing deployments of troops and police.
The province shares a border with independent Papua New Guinea on the island of New Guinea, just north of Australia.
A former Dutch colony, mineral-rich Papua declared independence in 1961 but neighboring Indonesia took control two years later, promising a referendum.
The subsequent vote in favor of staying part of Indonesia, approved by the UN at the time, was widely considered a sham.
