The incident occurred around 8:25 at the City Light Building on Nguyen Tat Thanh Street in Vinh Yen City. The building has 18 stories, with the first three floors mainly housing three-story shophouses.
The scence of the explosion
The house where the explosion happened was being transformed into a restaurant. At the time of the accident, some workers were carrying out repairs inside the shophouse. According to local authorities' initial assessment, a gas leak might have led to the explosion.
Minh Vu, a shop owner near the scene, said, "I've never heard such a loud explosion before. The blast even shattered the glass doors of my store and damaged some ceiling tiles.
Nguyen Duc Luan, a security guard at a store on Nguyen Tat Thanh Street, said fortunately, few vehicles were on the road when the explosion happened, which helped to reduce the number of casualties.
All the victims are being treated at Vinh Phuc General Hospital.
The cause of the case is being investigated.