PM Phạm Minh Chính inspects the scene of the fire on Wednesday. — VNA/VNS Photos

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính on Wednesday inspected the scene of a major fire at an apartment building that killed at least eight people in Hà Nội's Thanh Xuân District.

By 7am on Wednesday, 70 individuals had been rescued from the block, with 54 taken to hospital. There have been numerous casualties, though the precise count has not been officially confirmed.

Five big hospitals in the city received dozens of injured victims and reported at least eight dead.

The blaze is said to have started at 11.50pm on Tuesday on the ground floor, quickly engulfing the entire building.

Spanning 200sq.m, the building with nine floors houses around 150 residents and is situated in a narrow alley off Khương Hạ Street, complicating access for rescue crews.

Visiting Bạch Mai Hospital, where nearly 30 victims are being treated, PM Chính hoped the doctors and nurses would do their best to save the victims.

Dr Nguyễn Anh Tuấn, director of Bạch Mai Hospital’s Emergency Centre, said as of 9am on Wednesday, the hospital received 26 victims, including two who died on the way to the hospital. Four are in a critical condition.

PM Chính visits a victim being treated at Bạch Mai Hospital.

The victims were hospitalised with multiple injuries of varying degrees, mainly due to smoke inhalation, with no cases of burns.

Hà Nội Medical University Hospital received seven victims, including one dead. One patient who suffered multiple injuries after jumping from a high floor has been sent to surgery.

Đống Đa General Hospital received eight victims, including four dead.

Hà Đông General Hospital is treating four people, while the Hospital of Post and Telecommunications received two victims including one child who died on the way to the hospital.

All of the hospitals have put emergency cases at the disaster response level when receiving the victims.

PM Chính ordered authorities to study and complete regulations on fire prevention and control at apartment buildings and densely-populated areas with narrow roads.

He also called for equipping people with fire response and escape skills while ensuring the safety and efficiency of fire-fighting equipment.

He requested the healthcare sector to urgently compile a set of self-first aid methods in case of fire and disseminate it to the public.

Earlier in the morning, in a dispatch sent to the Minister of Public Security and Chairpersons of provinces and centrally-run cities in the wake of the incident, PM Chính has extended his deepest condolences to the families of the victims, and urged Hà Nội to provide them with material and spiritual support.

The municipal People’s Committee needs to closely coordinate with the Ministry of Public Security to instruct competent forces to identify responsibility of organisations and individuals involved, and strictly handle wrongdoings (if any) in line with legal regulations.

The ministry and localities were asked to continue seriously observing instructions of the National Assembly, the Government and the PM on firefighting, and regularly monitor fire-prone facilities, especially mini apartment buildings and rental houses.— VNS