The fire engulfed the first floor of a snail noodle shop in HCM City. — VNA/VNS Photos

HCM CITY — Four people, including two children, died of suffocation in a fire that broke out early Friday morning at a snail noodle shop on Trần Hưng Đạo Street in downtown HCM City, according to local media.

The victims were two children aged two and seven and two women aged 35 and 40.

The 115 Emergency Centre said that it received six patients in total, of whom four were already in cardiac and respiratory arrest on arrival and were later confirmed dead.

Two others – women between 18 and 21 years who jumped down from the ground floor – survived and remain in intensive care.

Rescue operations were hindered because the façades of the three upper floors were blocked by large advertising billboards, limiting access from outside, authorities said. After the blaze was brought under control, authorities were able to carry several victims out.

Firefighters working to enter the building and rescue victims.

At the time of the incident, there were about five to seven people inside the shop. Many passers-by and nearby residents attempted to extinguish the fire, but were unsuccessful.

Trương Thị Minh Dung, chairwoman of the Cầu Ông Lãnh Ward People’s Committee, told Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) newspaper that firefighters used an aerial ladder truck to rescue the victims, and four were rushed to the hospital in critical condition.

Ward authorities said they are working with the police and relevant agencies to investigate the cause of the fire. — VNS