Hanoi – A fire at a karaoke bar killed 13 people and injured two police officers in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi, an official said Wednesday.

The blaze started Tuesday afternoon in the busy Cau Giay district and quickly spread to neighbouring houses, according to local official The Chung.

Photos showed plumes of smoke rising from the large fire as firefighters on ladders tackled the flames, with cars and motorbikes outside the building also burning.

“Hundreds of firemen and police officers were mobilised to extinguish the fire,” Chung told AFP.

He added that two police officers were being treated after they were injured trying to put out the blaze.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered police to immediately “investigate and conclude reasons for the fire, seriously punishing wrongdoing”, according to the government’s official website.

He also asked local authorities to closely inspect karaoke bars and restaurants for fire safety protocols and equipment, the statement added.

Blazes are common at houses, bars and restaurants in communist Vietnam where fire prevention and firefighting is limited.

In September, a seven-storey karaoke bar in Hanoi went up in flames at night, but no casualties were reported.

Marriage lies far in the future for many children, but one non-profit organisation in Japan has launched an initiative to have youngsters think about the prospect by watching mock weddings.

Other organisations are also trying to make young people consider tying the knot eventually.

Tokyo-based Houkago NPO Afterschool has partnered with Take and Give Needs, a major wedding planning company, to hold such events for elementary and junior high school students.

They are invited to a wedding hall, where a wedding planner talks about the meaning of marriage and stages a mock wedding ceremony.

At an event in August, the children watched as a man and woman acting as the bride and groom pledged their love for each other, just like in a real ceremony.

“It made me want to get married more some day,” an 11-year-old elementary school boy said.

“Opportunities exist to learn about jobs through career education and the like, but there are few opportunities to learn about marriage,” said Kuniyasu Hiraiwa, representative director of the NPO.

“I hope the children can form an overall image of their future life, whether or not they get married,” he added.

However, the obstacles to marriage run deeper.

In a 2014 Cabinet Office survey, Japanese people in their 20s and 30s cited “I haven’t met the right person” and “I don’t earn enough to get married” as top reasons for remaining single.

Another survey by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research showed that the main reason those aged 18 to 24 stayed single was “I’m still too young”.

To tackle these mindsets, initiatives are under way to provide high school students with information on marriage.

A recent event is Work, Marriage, Childbirth: Life Design Seminar for Students, a seminar by Yamagata Prefecture’s childcare support section.

At the event, Yasuko Takeda, an executive at a company managing marriage ceremony halls, gives lectures that involve using data to depict the reality of marriage.

“If you’re looking for a man who earns six million yen (S$79,000) or more a year, only one in 20 fit that description,” she told the students during a session.

Kanako Amano, a research fellow at NLI Research Institute, said: “Some strongly feel that young people should not… leave things to chance.”

“It’s important to create a life plan based on conventional knowledge from an early age. This may make children more aware of what marriage entails,” the research fellow added.