Cinema pyrotechnics expert is among 10 dead in home explosion

Twin blasts at a warehouse owned by a cinema specialeffects expert killed 10 people and reduced three homes to burning rubble…

Twin blasts at a warehouse owned by a cinema specialeffects expert killed 10 people and reduced three homes to burning rubble in Vietnam’s biggest city, state media reported yesterday.

Teams of firefighters worked through the early hours after the overnight explosions and found three survivors among the bodies buried beneath what was left of the houses in southern Ho Chi Minh City, the Tuoi Tre newspaper said on its website.

Among the dead was Le Minh Phuong (58), who worked in pyrotechnics for local films and stored explosives in his home, which doubled as a warehouse, Tuoi Tre said, citing preliminary police investigations.

Six members of Phuong’s family, including his six-year-old daughter, were also killed. Police said they believed the explosions were triggered by accident. Local residents fled after the blasts shook homes within a 500-metre radius, according to the news website VNExpress. – (Reuters)