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54 Die in Ho Chi Minh City Office Fire
Wednesday, October 30, 2002
By Ben Rowse in Hanoi

Smoke engulfs the burning building in Ho Chi Minh City.
Image Credit: The Associated Press.

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Ha, who was attending a training course organised by AIA on the fifth floor, spoke from her hospital bed at the District One Emergency Centre today. She said she had escaped by climbing down a drain pipe. "As soon as we smelt the fire everyone started panicking and tried to rush out of the room. People were pushing and getting crushed so I went to a window and climbed down."

AT least 54 people have died and scores are missing after a huge fire swept through an office building that houses Australian and other foreign companies in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City.

Firefighters struggled for five hours to put out the blaze at the Saigon International Business Centre in District One, the heart of the city.

Eyewitnesses described how office workers trapped inside the six-storey building were killed after jumping from windows to escape the inferno in Vietnam's vibrant business and investment capital.

No Australians were caught up in the fire, a spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
(More: A News, Limited, News Source)
2002 © News Interactive.

Dan