State Media in Vietnam Say the Death Toll from a Hanoi Apartment Building Has Risen to 56 – News18

State media in Vietnam say the death toll in the nine-story apartment building fire in Hanoi has risen to 56.

The victims include at least four children, while 37 more are being treated, state media reported citing the police.

Of the 56 people confirmed dead, the police have identified 39 victims, the state-owned Viet Nam News said Wednesday evening.

Initial reports about the death toll were unclear since the injured and dead were taken to different hospitals across the city. The fire started around midnight and was extinguished in the morning, rescue operations continued throughout the day.

The police have detained the owner of the building as part of their investigation.

State-owned national television channel VTV said four children were among those killed.

The fire was believed to have started late Tuesday and rescuers struggled to reach the building on a narrow lane in south Hanoi. It wasn’t immediately clear how much of the building had burned.

It was home to 150 residents, and 54 of the 70 people rescued from the fire were hospitalized for their injuries, state media said. Residents were being treated for smoke inhalation and injuries sustained as they tried to escape the building.

Authorities were investigating the cause of the fire, which started around midnight in the parking area of the building that had no emergency exit.

A deadly fire at a karaoke parlor in southern Vietnam’s Binh Duong province killed 32 people last year.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – Associated Press)