A fire broke out at a hotel in the Old Quarter in Hanoi on Monday evening, panicking its guests, most of whom are foreigners, local authorities said. The blaze burst out on the ninth floor of An Nam Legend Hotel, located at 27 Hang Be Street, Hoan Kiem District, at about 7:45 pm, witnesses said. Panic-stricken guests and hotel staffers rushed out of the building as the flames intensified, along with columns of black fumes. Immediately after the fire happened, the hotel management rapidly evacuated all its guests, along with its employees, to a nearby location, at 41 Hang Be Street. The capital city’s firefighting police deployed a large number of firefighters and four fire trucks to the scene to extinguish the flames.

Hoan Kiem police sent forces to the scene to maintain order and facilitate the firefighting.

The fire is seen from a far distance. Photo: Tuoi Tre

At the time of the fire, the hotel was serving quite a large number of guests, most of whom are foreigners, according to the Vietnam News Agency. An Australian tourist said he smelt smoke while staying in his room and then heard the sound of the fire alarm, the news agency reported. He added the hotel management later arranged new accommodations for him. Colonel Tran Van Vu, head of the fire prevention and control division under the Hanoi Police Department, said that firefighters put out the blaze at 9:00 pm. The flames broke out in a karaoke room on the ninth floor before it spread upward, Col. Vu said. No casualties were reported, and there were no immediate reports of damage caused by the inferno either. Police are investigating the cause of the fire.

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