Vietnam's capital city Hanoi witnessed a massive building fire which has killed over 50 people. The fire that broke out in a nine-story apartment building in Vietnam's capital killed at least 56 people, including at least four children, while 37 more are being treated, state media reported citing the police.
Of the 56 people confirmed dead, the police have identified 39 victims, the state-owned Viet Nam News said Wednesday evening.
The fatal fire that started on Tuesday took the lives of four children among others, State-owned national television channel VTV reported.
One man, who did not give his name, said his daughter had died and feared his wife had also perished. "I lost my daughter, who was staying with her mother," he said to news media outlet AFP.
Unsure where his wife was, he told AFP, "I guess she did not make it either."
The nine storey building in Hanoi, Vietnam, that got burned down is located on a narrow lane, making it difficult for rescuers to carry out rescue operations. It was home to 150 residents, and 54 of the 70 people rescued from the fire were hospitalized for their injuries, according to initial state media reports.
Residents were being treated for smoke inhalation and injuries sustained as they tried to escape the building. The police have detained the owner of the building as part of their investigation.
Family members kept waiting at morgues a day later to collect the bodies of their loved ones, they knew had died in the deadly fire.
One man, who gave his name as Dung, said his two young cousins, a man and a woman, were among the dead. They had come from their home in nearby coastal Thai Binh province to study.
"They were at university here. Our family bought them this small apartment. We are waiting here to bring back them back to our home province for burial, but we don't know when they are going to release the body." Dung told AFP.
Survivor Tran Thi Lien, 65, who bought her second-floor apartment in the block eight years ago, told AFP that residents had requested better fire safety equipment many times.
"They still did not do it," she said.
"When people die like this... it causes so much suffering."
Authorities were investigating the cause of the fire, which started around midnight in the parking area of the building that had no emergency exit.
A deadly fire at a karaoke parlor in southern Vietnam’s Binh Duong province killed 32 people last year.
