10 killed, 50 injured in apartment fire in Vietnam’s Hanoi

Hanoi [Vietnam], September 13 : As many as ten people have been killed and more than 50 injured in a fire in a nine-floor apartment building in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi, Al Jazeera reported.
The official Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported that the fire broke out at about midnight local time on Wednesday but had been contained by 2 am (19:00 GMT).
The news agency said the building was home to 150 people and located down a narrow alley in a residential area southwest of Hanoi.
Some 70 people were rescued from the block, with 54 of them rushed to hospital, it added. State-owned national television channel VTV said four children were among those killed.
Television images showed firefighters equipped with hoses and ladders at the scene by night, while a column of thick, dark smoke billowed from the building during the day, as per CNN.
A witness said a small child was thrown from a high floor to escape the flames.
“I was about to sleep when I smelled something. I went outside and saw the fire,” she said.
“The smoke was everywhere. There was a little boy thrown from a high floor, I don’t know whether he survived or not although people used a mattress to catch him,” she said.
Police have launched an investigation into the cause of the fire.
Vietnam has experienced several deadly fires in recent years, frequently at entertainment venues like popular karaoke bars, as per CNN.