Neighbors reported hearing explosions “like fireworks” and screams from people inside.
Hanoi, Vietnam:
A fire ripped through an apartment complex in central Hanoi on Friday morning, killing 14 people and injuring three others, police said.
Smoke and toxic gases billowed from the building in Cau Giay district, a densely populated neighborhood of Vietnam’s capital that is home to several universities, after a fire broke out at around 12:30 pm (5:30 pm GMT Thursday).
Rescuers forced entry, breaking the lock on an outside gate and breaking a window to rescue seven people trapped inside.
Neighbors reported hearing explosions “like fireworks” and screams from people inside and people living nearby.
“The fire grew strongly, destroying many motorcycles, electric bicycles and bicycles in the courtyard area,” Hanoi police said in a statement.
“At 1:26 am, the fire was completely extinguished. Rescue forces discovered 14 people dead.”
Three survivors are receiving emergency treatment in hospital.
The building’s corrugated metal roof collapsed as the fire reduced the complex to a charred shell open to the sky, littered with blackened belongings and bicycle parts.
It was unclear how many people were inside when the fire started.
The building was made up of two interconnected blocks, one with two floors and the other with three, located in a two-meter-wide alley, with 12 rooms for rent.
The yard would have been used for the sale and repair of electric bicycles.
A neighbor, who did not want to be identified, told AFP that she heard an “explosion similar to fireworks”.
“I thought there was a fight or something banging on the window. I ran down and saw the fire.
“A lot of the neighbors ran out of the alley, through other neighbors’ houses. We were very, very scared.”
She said the building owner rescued his daughter-in-law and a grandson from the flames.
Explosions, screams
Another neighbor, Ngo Thi Thuy, said she saw bright flames rising through cracks in the building’s corrugated metal roof.
“Particles of fire kept flying, the smoke was so thick it was impossible to see anything,” Thuy, 40, told state news website VNExpress.
“There was the sound of explosions and some screams. The screams were coming from inside the burning house and neighboring houses.”
Along with her other neighbors, she poured buckets of water on the roof – but said the smoke only grew louder.
Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire, the latest deadly blaze to hit the communist country.
In Vietnam’s deadliest fire in two decades, 56 people died – three of them children – in a fire in an apartment block in Hanoi last September.
The country has suffered several other deadly fires in recent years, often at entertainment venues.
A year ago, a fire at a karaoke bar near Ho Chi Minh City’s commercial center killed 32 people and injured 17. The owner was later arrested on charges related to violating fire prevention regulations.
Following this, the Prime Minister ordered an inspection of all high-risk locations.
Fire safety equipment and instructions have been installed on many streets and buildings in the city.
(Except the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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