Fire destroys Sony Center in HCMC

The Sony Center on Ho Chi Minh City’s Nguyen Thi Minh Khai St. was ravaged by a big fire early this morning, but no human casualties were reported.

Le Van Hoang, the center’s sole security guard at the time of the incident, told local media that at about 2 am when he was sleeping inside the store, someone outside knocked on the door to inform him of the fire.

Upon running outside, Hoang saw the advertising board of the adjacent Trust Bank branch on fire.

Afterwards, strong winds fanned the fire towards the advertising board of the 600 sq.m Sony store which was later engulfed in flames.

“Our efforts to stop the fire failed because the store was engulfed in huge flames and thick plumes of black smoke,” Hoang said.

Five fire trucks and 30 firefighters were deployed to the scene and the fire was basically put under control at 4am the same day.

However, local police are yet to determine the cause of the blaze or the extent of the damage.

The HCMC-based Sony center established on August 30, 2012 is both a retail store and a service center for all Sony products.

Trust Bank branch’s office, adjacent to the Sony Center, was also affected by the fire on January 2, 2013.

Local residents and passers-by flocked to the scene after the fire was put out.

Many Sony products, including luxury equipment, inside the store were badly damaged by the fire.