At Least 13 People Have Died in a Fire at a HighRise Apartment Building in Vietnam
At least 13 people, including two young children, were reportedly killed when a 20-story condominium in Vietnam caught fire early Friday morning. According to state media, people died by suffocation or by trying to jump from the flames. Hundreds of people reportedly fled the inferno at Carina Plaza, home to more than 700 families, in the nation's southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City. Firefighters rushed to the scene shortly after 115 a.m. Officials said two boys, ages three and five, were among those who died in the fire. A woman and her son also reportedly fell to their deaths from the 19th floor. At least 28 people have been reported injured. "This blaze has resulted in the worst human and property loss in recent years," Vo Van Hoan, Ho Chi Minh City's chief of staff, told VN Express International. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined, but officials claimed the building, erected in 2009, had undergone routine fire inspections.