A report from local authorities said that the incident occurred at about 5 am when a bike's battery exploded, spreading the fire to other vehicles nearby.

"After seeing the fire at the 500-square-metre parking lot, the guards and some local people had tried to control the fire but failed," the report said. "They managed to move four bikes out before the fire spread and destroyed the 21 others which belonged to the Hoi An Electric Vehicle Company. The smoke rose hundreds of metres high, and loud explosions could be heard."

Fire rescue teams were sent to the site and controlled the fire at 6 am. However, 21 vehicles had been burnt, and a large parking lot was damaged.

Police are further investigating the cause of the fire.

On May 8, a fire destroyed another 40 tourist electric vehicles in the Electric Power College of Central Vietnam parking lot on Nguyen Tat Thanh Street in Hoi An.