Smoky condo fire in Vietnam kills at least 13, injures 28
HANOI, Vietnam — Residents startled awake by loud noise and smoke signalled for help with lit mobile phones and crawled onto cranes from their balconies to escape a fire Friday at a large condominium complex in southern Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City. At least 13 people were killed and 28 injured, with police saying it was unclear if anyone was missing.
State media quoted the city’s police and fire department as saying police rescued more than 100 residents while more than 1,000 escaped the fire themselves.
“I did not hear any alarm or fire signals,” Tuoi Tre newspaper quoted resident Nguyen Ngoc Mai as saying. “Rushing to the balcony, I could not see anything because there was a lot of smoke… I did not know what to do to save my life. Too panicked, but fortunately I was finally rescued.”
“We were awakened by loud noise. We ran out of the apartment but there was a lot of smoke. We only had enough time to grab the mobile phone, wet some towels to cover ourselves and ran out,” online newspaper VnExpress quoted an unnamed male resident as saying.