Welders Started Fire Fatal to 61, Police Say

Two welders admitted accidentally starting an inferno in Ho Chi Minh City that killed at least 61 people, police said. Phan Viet Thanh, 19, and Nguyen Phu Tin, 32, surrendered, and police were still investigating whether a third welder was in hiding or had died in the blaze.

Thanh said the flame from a welding torch accidentally set fire to plastic decoration sheets on the ceiling of a disco in the six-story Saigon International Trade Center on Tuesday, an officer reported. The welder told police that they tried to put out the fire and then fled.