A fire at a Vietnamese shoe factory killed 17 people and seriously injured 21 in the northern port city of Hai Phong, state-controlled media reported yesterday.
Thanh Nien newspaper quoted Bui Thi Them, one of the survivors, as saying the fire broke out on Friday afternoon, when welding sparks ignited roofing insulation. The welder was installing a lightning rod on the factory’s tin roof in preparation for a tropical storm that is expected to hit northern Vietnam later yesterday.
The insulation fell to the factory floor in a fireball, blocking the 125m2 workshop’s only entrance before quickly engulfing piles of shoemaking materials, it said.
“The fireball blocked the factory’s main entrance and there is no exit on the back,” Them told the paper. “Many people in the middle of the factory, which was engulfed with fire and smoke, could not escape and were burned to death.”
Vietnam Television reported that 13 people died due to burns and suffocation on Friday and four others who were seriously burned died yesterday morning.
Eight other people who were in critical condition were transferred to a hospital in the capital, Hanoi, it said.
The newspaper reported yesterday that police have detained six people, including the Vietnamese owner of the factory, her Chinese husband and the welder, for questioning.
Tuoi Tre newspaper said six workers managed to escape unhurt. It said the factory has been in operation for nearly a month.
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