CẦN THƠ – Electric short-circuit was cited as the cause of the huge fire that engulfed a Taiwanese garment factory in southern Cần Thơ Province’s Trà Nóc Industrial Zone.

At a conference in Cần Thơ City yesterday morning, Colonel Trần Ngọc Hạnh, director of the city’s Police Department, said authorised agencies had inspected the scene of the fire and found that the electric system was the first object that caught fire. The fire then quickly spread to other goods.

Until yesterday morning, authorised agencies and fire fighters continued to take goods out of the factory.

He added that information that the firefighters faced a shortage of water while extinguishing the fire was inaccurate.

In reply to reports that the firefighting effort was not effective, Hạnh said due to the factory’s design like a hive, the fire first engulfed the fabric lying in the middle of the factory and then spread all over. Firefighters sprayed water around the factory, but the fire could not be controlled effectively.

In addition, fabric stores were located in the working office on the fourth and fifth floors; therefore, firefighters were unable to stamp out the fire.

Hạnh said the factory contained fabric and feathers, so the fire raged again, although it earlier appeared to have been extinguished, adding that the city had only two ladder fire trucks, which were not enough in case of such huge fires.

When the fire broke out again, authorised agencies mobilised seven fire trucks with ladders from neighbouring provinces and more 700 soldiers and firefighters to stamp out the fire completely.

Last Thursday, a fire broke out on the top floor of the five-storey building where Kwong Lung-Meko stores its fabric in the Trà Nóc Industrial Zone in southern Cần Thơ City. The fire quickly spread throughout the floor which has a 1,800sqm fabric store. It was put out at 3pm but suddenly broke out again at 5pm and was not totally extinguished until 10pm Sunday.

Hundreds of people and some 1,200 workers have been affected by the fire.

Kwong Lung-Meko specialises in feather processing and garment production. Its factory covers some 17,000sq.m. and has more than 1,300 workers in the Trà Nóc Industrial Zone in Cần Thơ City. – VNS