Vietnam: Fire at residential building kills 14 in Hanoi

Hanoi, May 24 (IANS) A fire at a rental building in Vietnam's capital, Hanoi, killed 14 people and injured three others early on Friday, local media reported.

The building, which covers an area of 100 square meters, is located in a narrow alley approximately two meters wide and about 200 meters from Trung Kinh Street, making it inaccessible to fire trucks, VnExpress reported.

The rental multistory building has two rooms on each floor, with the first floor used for electric bicycle sales and repairs, Vietnam News Agency reported.

An electric bicycle short circuit was initially cited as the main cause of the flames, which occurred at 0:30 a.m., reports Xinhua news agency.

The case is being further investigated.

A total of 1,555 fires and explosions happened in Vietnam in the first four months of this year, killing 28 people and injuring 26 others.

According to the country's General Statistics Office, the fires and explosions caused property losses of some 89.8 billion Vietnamese dong (3.5 million US dollars).