Many victims of Hanoi fire jumped out of high-rise

A security officer walks past gutted vehicles. Pic/AP

Ten children were among the 56 people killed in a blaze in a Hanoi high-rise, police said Thursday, which some residents desperately tried to escape by jumping out of upper stories, according to witnesses.

As the fire spread, people on higher floors got increasingly desperate and Pham Thu Hang, a pharmacist who lives across the street, said that many began to jump. "We brought out mattresses and blankets as cushions for people to jump down, but many were panicked and they jumped regardless," she said. "Some landed on neighbors' hard roofs. I could hear the thudding sounds. Jumping out would give a better chance to survive than being trapped inside."

Hanoi police said in a statement on Thursday that some entire families were killed in the blaze, and that so far they have only been able to identify 39 of the 56 victims. Another 37 people were injured, about half of whom were taken to Bach Mai hospital. Authorities have still not released the cause of the fire, which broke out just before midnight Tuesday and wasn't extinguished until Wednesday morning in the nine-story apartment building in Vietnam's capital.

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