At least 54 feared dead in Vietnam office fire

At least 54 feared dead in Vietnam office fire

Ben Rowse, Agence France-Presse, Hanoi

At least 54 people died and scores were missing after a huge fire
swept through an office block heavily populated by foreign
companies in Vietnam's southern hub of Ho Chi Minh City on
Tuesday, state media said.

Firefighters struggled for five hours to put out the blaze at
the Saigon International Business Center in District One, the
heart of the city.

Eyewitnesses described how office workers trapped inside the
six-story building had jumped from windows to escape the inferno
in Vietnam's vibrant business and investment capital.

Local residents said the fire was caused by an electrical
fault, but city mayor Le Thanh Hai said the reason for the blaze
was not yet known.

Nguyen Van Niem, a foreign ministry official in Ho Chi Minh
City, said "no evidence has been found that this was related to
terrorism".

Emergency services have recovered 48 bodies so far but warned
the death toll could rise as many others remained unaccounted
for, Vietnam Television (VTV) news said, adding that around 500
people worked in the building.

Six people also died from their injuries in hospital,
according to local television reports in Ho Chi Minh City.

A further 59 people have been rushed to hospital, with one
third of them in a life-threatening condition. However, no
details were available on the nationalities of the victims.

Companies from Australia, Britain, Belgium, Germany, Hong
Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and the United States have
offices in the center.

U.S. giant American International Assurance (AIA) is also
based on the second floor of the building.

Niem said the bodies of those recovered were so disfigured
that it was still impossible to say if any foreign nationals had
died in the blaze.

"We cannot say if any foreigners were victims because the
bodies were so badly burnt. It will take time to identify them."

A local reporter for a state-run newspaper said more than 100
people were attending a wedding in the building, which also
houses the Blue discotheque on the second floor.

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Ha, who was attending a training course
organized by AIA on the fifth floor, told AFP from her hospital
bed at the District One Emergency Center that she had escaped by
climbing down a drain pipe.

"As soon as we smelt the fire everyone started panicking and
tried to rush out of the room. People were pushing and getting
crushed so I went to a window and climbed down."

Ha said more than 140 people were in the class but said she
was unsure of their fate or that of an American man running the
course.

Tom Carmichael, a spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Hanoi,
said consular officials were working with local authorities in Ho
Chi Minh City to determine if any Americans had been caught up in
the fire.