At least 54 feared dead in Vietnam office fire<\/p>\n
Ben Rowse, Agence France-Presse, Hanoi<\/p>\n
At least 54 people died and scores were missing after a huge fire
\nswept through an office block heavily populated by foreign
\ncompanies in Vietnam's southern hub of Ho Chi Minh City on
\nTuesday, state media said.<\/p>\n
Firefighters struggled for five hours to put out the blaze at
\nthe Saigon International Business Center in District One, the
\nheart of the city.<\/p>\n
Eyewitnesses described how office workers trapped inside the
\nsix-story building had jumped from windows to escape the inferno
\nin Vietnam's vibrant business and investment capital.<\/p>\n
Local residents said the fire was caused by an electrical
\nfault, but city mayor Le Thanh Hai said the reason for the blaze
\nwas not yet known.<\/p>\n
Nguyen Van Niem, a foreign ministry official in Ho Chi Minh
\nCity, said \"no evidence has been found that this was related to
\nterrorism\".<\/p>\n
Emergency services have recovered 48 bodies so far but warned
\nthe death toll could rise as many others remained unaccounted
\nfor, Vietnam Television (VTV) news said, adding that around 500
\npeople worked in the building.<\/p>\n
Six people also died from their injuries in hospital,
\naccording to local television reports in Ho Chi Minh City.<\/p>\n
A further 59 people have been rushed to hospital, with one
\nthird of them in a life-threatening condition. However, no
\ndetails were available on the nationalities of the victims.<\/p>\n
Companies from Australia, Britain, Belgium, Germany, Hong
\nKong, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and the United States have
\noffices in the center.<\/p>\n
U.S. giant American International Assurance (AIA) is also
\nbased on the second floor of the building.<\/p>\n
Niem said the bodies of those recovered were so disfigured
\nthat it was still impossible to say if any foreign nationals had
\ndied in the blaze.<\/p>\n
\"We cannot say if any foreigners were victims because the
\nbodies were so badly burnt. It will take time to identify them.\"<\/p>\n
A local reporter for a state-run newspaper said more than 100
\npeople were attending a wedding in the building, which also
\nhouses the Blue discotheque on the second floor.<\/p>\n
Nguyen Thi Ngoc Ha, who was attending a training course
\norganized by AIA on the fifth floor, told AFP from her hospital
\nbed at the District One Emergency Center that she had escaped by
\nclimbing down a drain pipe.<\/p>\n
\"As soon as we smelt the fire everyone started panicking and
\ntried to rush out of the room. People were pushing and getting
\ncrushed so I went to a window and climbed down.\"<\/p>\n
Ha said more than 140 people were in the class but said she
\nwas unsure of their fate or that of an American man running the
\ncourse.<\/p>\n
Tom Carmichael, a spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Hanoi,
\nsaid consular officials were working with local authorities in Ho
\nChi Minh City to determine if any Americans had been caught up in
\nthe fire.<\/p>",
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