Three people have died and one other seriously injured in a house fire in the northern city of Hai Phong.
Three people die and one other suffers serious injures in a house fire in the northern city of Hai Phong on December 8.
According to a report from local police, the fire broke out at a temporary house in Le Chan District on Thursday afternoon.
"The house's owner, Phan Thi Lieu, 65, was filling petrol for her motorbike inside the house when cigarette ashes coming from her friends caused the fire to break out," the report said. The fire quickly spread over the 40-square-metre house, killing Lieu and her two friends, Ha Thi Loi, 62, and Nguyen Van Loi, 59. Meanwhile, another friend, Nguyen The Diep, 63, managed to escape the fire but suffered serious burns."
According to some witnesses, the house sits remotely near a rice field, so by the time people noticed the fire and rushed to it, the fire had already spread throughout the entire house.
"When we arrived, we heard screams from the house but the gate was locked," one witness said. "We tried to put [out] the fire from outside while calling the police. But only [one] man was rescued and brought to hospital while three bodies were found inside the house."
Hai Phong police are further investigating the cause of the fire.