Fire in luxury apartment building, 13 dead, 28 injured

The fire broke out at around 1:30 a.m. on March 23 at Block A of Carina Plaza apartment building (Ward 16, District 8, HCMC).

After the fire broke out in the basement, it quickly spread to the surrounding area. The fire and black smoke billowed up, attacking the upper floors. Hundreds of people cried for help, screaming in panic.

Some people used curtains and blankets tied together to make ropes to swing down to the ground. A witness said that while swinging down, a woman slipped and fell from the 19th floor to her death.

The fire was brought under control by the Ho Chi Minh City Fire Department at nearly 4am. Police discovered many dead and many injured.

A 32-year-old victim said: "When I opened the door, a wave of black smoke rushed in and overwhelmed me. I was on the third floor with my parents and screamed, but there was no way down. When the fire police arrived, they took us out."

The whole apartment building was engulfed in flames.

Hundreds of people ran in all directions.

200 soldiers were mobilized to fight the fire.

Official information at 8:20 a.m., Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Thanh Huong - Deputy Director in charge of the Fire Police Department of Ho Chi Minh City - said that the terrible fire left 13 people dead and 28 injured.

Regarding the information that the victim is the Secretary and Chairman of Nguyen Thai Binh Ward (District 1), Mr. Vo Van Hoan - Chief of Office of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee said that they are checking the identities of the victims so this cannot be confirmed yet.

Rescue work is still underway.

Statistics show that 13 people died in this fire.