The Indonesian Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City caught fire on Friday night following a series of small explosions. No injuries have been reported and firefighters believe an electrical short circuit was the cause, according to news website VnExpress. Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Manh Truong of the city’s fire police division said the small explosions were the sound of an electrical leakage. “The fire started on the third floor of the building,” Truong said. The resulting flames damaged furniture, equipment and documents in roughly 40 square meters of the 300-sqm floor. Flaming materials also fell down and damaged part of a car parked on the ground floor, the officer said. “It’s very lucky no one was hurt.” Eyewitnesses said they began hearing explosions coming from inside the building at around 9pm while gathered at 18 Phung Khac Khoan Street in District 1. Chau Ngoc Ha, 58, who lives behind the building, told VnExpress she smelled something burning and decided to investigate. After spotting white smoke rising from a upper-floor of the building she ran around to the front gate and informed the guard. The explosions continued and were followed by flames emanating from a building, causing neighbors to rush out of their houses. Sheets of canvas hanging over the building’s exterior also caught fire and melted. Smoke filled the tony neighborhood shortly before the residents lost power. A total of 11 fire trucks carrying 75 firefighters arrived nearly ten minutes later. The team quickly evacuated any remaining elderly and children from the households adjacent to the consulate. Those residents were permitted to return to their homes at 10:30pm after the blaze was extinguished.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 08:04:31 +0000
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