A devastating fire tore through an apartment building in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s southern commercial center, resulting in the deaths of eight people, including two children.
The fire started late Sunday on the ground floor of a five-storey apartment complex, and all victims died due to smoke inhalation. Residents desperately tried to control the flames with fire extinguishers as explosions echoed from inside the building before emergency responders arrived to assist.
A neighbor described the chaos, saying, “There were shouts for help from the apartment. Several residents on the upper floors had to jump to escape. It was terrible.”
The authorities have stated that the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
In recent times, Vietnam has seen a series of deadly fires leading to high-profile arrests and prosecutions, including eight people jailed earlier this year for a 2023 Hanoi apartment fire that killed 56, and the detention of a suspected arsonist over a karaoke bar blaze in Hanoi that resulted in 11 fatalities in December.