(VNF) - Two people have died after an old house in Hanoi collapsed on August 4th 2016.

A victim is carried out of the rubble. (Photo:VnExpress)

The house on Cua Bac Street in Ba Dinh District (to the northwest of Hanoi's Old Quarter), currently used as a private business premise.

The 30sq.m house had three floors. The first and second floors housed the Nem Xuân Dần Restaurant. The third floor had the bedrooms of Tuấn’s employees.

The building collapsed at about 3.30am today. When the building collapsed, six male and two female employees were sleeping inside.

The structure reportedly collapsed because it was very old, and almost did not have a proper foundation.

District police have managed to rescue four people who were rushed to Saint Paul Hospital. Two others who escaped the chaos before the rescue team arrived were taken to the local police station for further investigation.

“My family were all asleep when we were woken up by a loud rumble," a witness said. "It was like a bomb. I ran out of my house to see the collapse.”

The investigation continues.

Last September, a 110-year-old villa also collapsed in downtown Hanoi, leaving two dead and six injured. In the wake of the collapse, Hanoi officials launched large-scale inspections of the city's colonial buildings.

According to official figures, Hanoi is home to nearly 1,600 villas and properties from the French colonial era, aged from 60 to 100 years old.

Vietnam lists these colonial villas in Hanoi as heritage buildings that are subject to protection, meaning the architecture cannot be repaired or altered in any form.

The flip side of this regulation, according to experts, is that it has hampered the overhaul process and discouraged homeowners from making any renovations./.

( Ha Thuong )