On June 12, a huge fire in the southern province of An Giang burned down 78 houses and damaged 11 others, leaving 10 people injured in Tan Chau Town.

Nguyen Dac Tai, chairman of the Tan Chau Town People’s Committee, said the total losses are estimated at around VND30 billion (US$1.44 million).

According to initial investigation, at around 11:30am, the fire flared at Vo Van Nap’s house, a construction material store, and then quickly spread to neighboring houses which were built of flammable materials. Though hundreds of firefighters and locals worked to control the flame, they were only able to extinguish it after nearly three hours of struggling due to the hot weather.

Tai said after the fire, the local government provided VND 1million for each damaged house and offered food, water and shelter for those whose house burned.