A five-storied house totally collapsed in the center of Hanoi Thursday, but no casualties have been reported so far.

 

Witnesses said the house, located on Huynh Thuc Khang Street, Dong Da District, started sinking and cracking a little after 12 p.m.

 

This prompted local agencies to evacuate people from the dangerous zone, so there were no injuries or deaths, according to witnesses.

 

However, part of a nearby building was damaged.

 

A security guard of the Dang Khoa computer supermarket on the building’s first floor said at least 100 laptops and desktop computers were destroyed by concrete blocks.

 

Initial information showed the collapse was likely related to the quality of the house’s foundation, Bui Trung Dung, deputy chief of the Ministry of Construction’s construction work quality administration, told Thanh Nien.

 

He said the accident will be investigated further.

 

Thanh Nien enquiries found that the house, owned by 34-year-old Le Ba Tuyet, had been repaired for over the past month to host the pizza shop of a Korean tenant. It has previously functioned as a hostel, a mobile phone shop, and a coffee shop.