Hanoi, Dec 19 : A fire, allegedly caused by a petrol bomb, at a cafe in Vietnam's capital Hanoi left 11 people dead, local media reported Thursday.

The flames broke out at around 11 p.m. in the building on Pham Van Dong Street in the Bac Tu Liem district. The cafe, a popular venue for singing gatherings, was quickly engulfed in flames and smoke, which spread to a neighbouring house, according to VnExpress.

The police have found 11 people dead and rescued seven other people, with five in stable condition and two hospitalised, VnExpress reported.

The Bac Tu Liem district police confirmed that the suspect allegedly responsible for the fire was a 51-year-old man, residing in Hanoi's Dong Anh district, Xinhua news agency reported quoting the Vietnam News Agency.

The police started legal proceedings against the man who had recorded two prior convictions for robbery and theft.

He confessed after getting into an argument with the cafe's staff, he bought gasoline and poured it onto the first floor of the cafe.

Earlier on May 24, a fire at a rental building in Hanoi killed 14 people and injured three others.

The building, which covers an area of 100 square metres, is located in a narrow alley approximately two metres wide and about 200 metres from Trung Kinh Street, making it inaccessible to fire trucks.

The rental multistory building has two rooms on each floor with the first floor used for electric bicycle sales and repairs.

An electric bicycle short circuit was initially cited as the main cause of the flames, which occurred at 0.30 a.m.

A total of 1,555 fires and explosions occurred in Vietnam in the first four months of this year, killing 28 people and injuring 26 others. They caused property losses of some 89.8 billion Vietnamese dong ($3.5 million), according to the country's General Statistics Office.

/IANS