Two Britons Among Vietnam Blaze Dead

Governing Britain has not been easy for Tony Blair since he first arrived as prime minister - the painfully slow progress in public services, the traumatic resignations of key lieutenants, the agonising decisions over Kosovo, the inch-by-inch struggle to achieve an Irish peace process, and the post-September 11 agenda, including Iraq. It has hardly been a smooth ride. But in one key area, traditionally the most important one, it has been a breeze: after the difficulties and brutal decisions of the John Major years, New Labour inherited an era of strong, sta had offices in the building, today confirmed that 22 staff members and agents had died and another nine were missing.

"I saw the smoke. Everyone rushed to the stairway, but we could not escape because there was fire there, so we all rushed to the top floor. Some were able to escape along the rain water drainage pipes," Nguyen Xau Phung, an AIA staff member, told Vietnam Television.

"I can't imagine how I was able to escape," said Nguyen Thanh Chau, another AIA staff member. "Everyone said we had to jump, we could die if we stayed there."

A wedding reception was also being held in the building, which had several floors of shops, a restaurant, a disco, and offices of several dozen international companies.

The dead included two British men, a Vietnamese-American man and a Croatian, city officials said. The foreign office confirmed one of the dead Britons as Bruce Tuffee, and said the other man was a 59-year-old from Bolton in Lancashire.

The US Consulate identified the American as Vi Ai Hu, a Ho Chi Minh City resident from California whose Vietnamese wife also perished in the blaze. The other foreigners were not immediately identified. An official of Military Hospital 175, where the bodies were taken, said many were burned beyond recognition. Several hundred relatives wept outside the hospital's mortuary. They checked each ambulance as it arrived with bodies.

"Our whole family has gone to many hospitals around the city since Tuesday trying to find my sister, who was inside the building, but no luck so far," said Tran Thi Thanh Tuyen. "Her body may still be in the building."

Firefighters sprayed water throughout the night to cool the debris so that rescuers could search for survivors. The 300 firefighters, on 60 firetrucks, struggled with low water pressure and poor equipment.

"The effectiveness of their efforts was very small because of the limitations of their equipment," the Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper said.

Police were still investigating the cause of the fire, but suspected it was caused by a gas leak on the second floor.

At a news conference, city culture and ideology chief Pham Phuong Thao berated local newspapers for having carried pictures of suffering victims on their front pages instead of showing firefighters battling the blaze. She said all entertainment activities would be suspended to commemorate the dead for three days in the city.