Seven killed as restaurant catches fire in southern Vietnam

By Phuoc Tuan   December 21, 2018 | 04:38 am PT
A fire that broke out at a restaurant in the southern province of Dong Nai Friday killed seven people.

Pham Nguyen Khanh Duy, owner of the restaurant, hired a group of welders and other workers for repair work. At around 3 p.m., as the workers were installing a styrofoam ceiling, a fire broke out and quickly engulfed the entire restaurant.

There were no guests at the time of the blaze, except for seven people, including welding workers and restaurant staff who couldn’t escape.    

Black smokes erupt from a restaurant in Long Khanh Town in Dong Nai Province. Photo by VnExpress/Binh Ty

Black smokes erupt from a restaurant in Long Khanh Town in Dong Nai Province. Photo by VnExpress/Binh Ty

Fire trucks and dozens of firefighters were dispatched to the restaurant in Long Khanh Town, Dong Nai Province, around 30 kilometers (around 20 miles) from Saigon.

It took firefighters around one hour to douse the fire, and seven victims were rushed to the hospital.

Phan Van Huyen, director of Long Khanh General Hospital, told VnExpress that six people were dead on arrival while another was in critical condition. 

Police are investigating the fire.

Van Quyet Thang, deputy director of Dong Nai Police, said preliminary investigation shows that the fire was caused by welding sparks hitting the styrofoam ceiling.

[UPDATED] The seventh victim succumbed to injuries in hospital on Sunday morning.

Last March, 13 people were killed and more than 90 others injured following a deadly blaze at the Carina Plaza in HCMC, making it the second deadliest blaze in the city’s history, after one that 60 people at the six-story International Trade Center in October 2002.

Vietnam reported more than 2,900 fire incidents in the first nine months of this year, which killed 73 people and caused damage worth around 1.6 trillion ($68.4 million), according to official figures. 

 
 
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