At least 13 people were killed Friday and 28 others injured in a fire at a 20-storey apartment building in Ho Chi Minh City believed to be home to more than 700 families, state media reported.
Several people jumped from the building when the fire broke out at the Carina Plaza Building in District 8 in Ho Chi Minh City early Friday, the Tuoi Tre newspaper reported.
Police said the fire was sparked by an explosion in an underground car park at the building at approximately 1.30 am (1830 GMT Thursday). The fire was under control by 4:30 am.
The basement was completely destroyed, along with 150 motorbikes and 13 cars.
Residents told Tuoi Tre that neither a fire alarm nor sprinkler system was ever activated.
While the fire emitted a large smoke plume into the Ho Chi Minh City skyline and much of the structure's interior was burnt, minimal fire damage was visible on the building's exterior.
A second fire was reported at around noon in the basement of the plaza's Bulding B, causing panicked residents to flee. The fire was quickly extinguished, with firefighters blaming it on an overheated water pump.
It is the worst fire to hit Ho Chi Minh City since 2002, said Vo Van Hoan, head of the secretariat of the Ho Chi Minh City administration.
Rescue work was under way and police were investigating.
Improvised escape materials hang from a balcony at an apartment building after a fire broke out in Vietnam's southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City
