The fire, which broke out before Tuesday midnight at the first story of an apartment building in Vietnam's capital Hanoi, has killed 56 people and injured 37 others.

HANOI, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- A fire at a mini apartment block has killed 56 and injured 37 as of Wednesday evening in Vietnam's capital Hanoi.

Of the 56 fatalities, 39 have been identified, Vietnam News Agency reported.

A 44-year-old local man, the owner of the nine-story apartment block in Thanh Xuan district, has been prosecuted and detained for having violated regulations on fire prevention and fighting.

The fire broke out before Tuesday midnight at the first story of the block with a floor area of over 200 square meters in Khuong Dinh ward, where some 150 people live.

In the first eight months of this year, Vietnam saw 1,286 fires and explosions, which killed 69 people, injured 64 others, and caused property losses of nearly 200.7 billion Vietnamese dong (8.3 million U.S. dollars), the country's General Statistics Office said.