Fire swept through a shop house in Haiphong City, killing a family of six early today, December 29.
Neighbours of the small dressmaking establishment in alley 136, Nguyen Duc Canh Street, Le Chan District, alerted fire authorities at around 5am.
Fire fighters had trouble breaking through the front gate of the house, and by the time they gained access to the house the blaze had taken a firm hold.
Fire fighters clear the site where cloth used for dressmaking is believed to have fuelled the blaze.
Nguyen Xuan Binh, the vice chairman of the Haiphong People’s Committee, reported all six members of the family had died -- two elderly people aged over 80, a young couple, a young man and a boy. The young woman was said to be in the first month of pregnancy.
Police said cloth used for dressmaking inside the house had fuelled the blaze, the cause of which has not yet been determined. One fire fighter suffered smoke inhalation.
