A fire erupted at the parking lot of the Central Electric Power College in Hoi An, an internationally famous tourist city in Quang Nam Province, central Vietnam, on Wednesday morning, destroying 43 electric vehicles which were used to transport tourists.

At about 5:30 am, some employees of the college saw a column of smoke from an area for EVs in the parking lot.

The EVs belong to a local travel company, said Dinh Hoa, chairman of the administration of Tan An Ward, Hoi An City, where the school is located.

Fire trucks and dozens of firefighters were immediately dispatched to the scene to put out the fire. 

The blaze took about half an hour to be extinguished.

Besides the 43 EVs, the flames also damaged parts of an adjacent house.

At the time of the incident, some witnesses took 12 EVs to safe places. Six other EVs were also pulled out of the dangerous area but they were singed.

Local authorities are investigating the cause of the fire.

The owner of the EVs told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Wednesday that the vehicles used dry batteries.

Each vehicle cost around VND400 million (US$15,800).

The vehicles were used to transport tourists on fixed routes in Hoi An City, the businessman noted.

He added that his company had ordered dozens of new EVs but had not received them.

The old vehicles were burned amid the city's tourism recovery, he said.

It is lucky that the fire did not cause casualties. The company will negotiate with partners to deal with tourist transport contracts, he informed.

The company had a total of 52 EVs for tourist transport before the incident.

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