By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-12-19 02:21:38 | Updated at 2024-12-19 04:41:46
2 hours ago
A fire ripped through a karaoke bar in the Vietnamese capital, killing 11 people and injuring two others in a case of suspected arson, police said on Thursday.
Pictures on state media showed the blackened multi-storey building in western Hanoi, mostly destroyed by flames, and piles of twisted metal strewn nearby.
Police said they received reports of a fire at 11:00pm Wednesday (local time) “with many people trapped inside”.
Rescuers rushed to the scene and managed to bring out seven people alive, two of whom were rushed to hospital. Eleven others were found dead, they said.
“The police suspect that the cafe was [deliberately] burned down and … have arrested the perpetrator,” Hanoi police said in a statement.
Witnesses told state media the fire was so large that no one dared to attempt to rescue those trapped inside. Photos from the scene showed that the building’s balconies were enclosed with metal bars, likely making escape difficult.
Nguyen Minh Hung, who was nearby at the time, told the Dan Tri newspaper: “We were shouting for the trapped victims, but we heard no ask for help from inside the building.”
