Two killed in Saigon apartment fire

The fire started at around 4 a.m. at an apartment on the 10th floor of the Carillon 5 building on Luy Ban Bich Street.

Two women who are mother and daughter were stuck inside the apartment as the fire got stronger and spread to the balcony.

According to witnesses who live in the building, at the time the fire spread strongly, they saw the daughter, 18, swung the window curtain to get to the ninth floor but she slipped and dropped.

The mother, 42, jumped from the balcony.

After firefighters put out the fire in 15 minutes using water cannons, they found both women dead. Most furniture inside the apartment had been burned out.

Police said it is possible that the mother had set fire on purpose by pouring gasoline over her bedroom. They had seized a plastic can containing gasoline inside the apartment for investigation.

A local official said the mother is in the final stage of cancer, that she had tried to killed herself more than once but her family stopped her.