Police said 37 people were injured in the fire, and 39 victims have been identified.

The fire that broke out during the night has been extinguished. A warrant has been issued for the arrest of the building’s owner.

According to authorities in fast-growing Hanoi, many newly-built apartments do not meet fire safety standards.

In the past 20 years, the city’s population has quadrupled to 5.25 million. Witnesses said the fire started on the motorbike-filled parking floor of the building, which is under investigation.

Upon hearing a loud bang at around 23:00 local time on Tuesday (16:00 GMT), residents saw black smoke rising from the building.

According to one family, they had to smash the metal railings blocking their window and put a ladder across to a neighboring building. The AFP news agency quoted Hoa, a woman who lives nearby, as saying, “I heard a lot of shouts for help. We couldn’t do much to help them.”

“There is no escape route out of the apartment, so the victims cannot escape.”

According to AFP, another witness saw a little boy thrown from a high floor to escape the flames.

Although people used a mattress to catch him, she doesn’t know whether he survived.