The fire started just before midnight on Tuesday in a building housing about 150 residents. Firefighters contained the blaze, but the building\u2019s location at end of a narrow alley made rescue operations difficult. Dozens of people remained trapped in the building until after dawn, state media reports said.<\/p>\n
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Rescue workers carry a person on stretcher out of a building on fire in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Wednesday. <\/span>Credit: <\/span>AP<\/cite><\/p>\n Of the 56 people confirmed dead, the police have identified 39 victims, the state-owned Viet Nam News<\/em> said Wednesday evening, citing Hanoi police. State-owned national television channel VTV said four children were among those killed. Initial reports about the death toll were unclear since the injured and dead were taken to different hospitals across the city.<\/p>\n Many of the dozens being treated at hospitals suffered from smoke inhalation and injuries sustained during desperate attempts to escape the building.<\/p>\n Authorities were investigating the cause of the fire, which started around midnight in the parking area of the building, which had no emergency exit. The police have detained the building\u2019s owner as part of their investigation.<\/p>\n Smoke rises from a building in Hanoi, Vietnam.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>AP<\/cite><\/p>\n The building was known as a \u201ctube house\u201d \u2013 a narrow, elongated house that is several stories high \u2013 and its residents included families and students. Images showed walls blackened by soot, with wires around it mangled by the heat.<\/p>\n Vietnamese Prime Minister Ph\u1ea1m Minh Chinh visited the site and extended his condolences to families of the victims.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must take this as a lesson\u201d to improve fire prevention and firefighting, he said, adding that \u201cregulations must be taken seriously so we can avoid a tragedy like this\u201d.<\/p>\n Last year, a blaze at a karaoke parlour in southern Vietnam\u2019s Binh Duong province killed 32 people.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n