Dozens dead; at least 50 injured in apartment fire in Vietnam's Hanoi

The fire started before midnight on Tuesday in the parking floor of the 10-storey building, witnesses said, an area packed with residents' motorbikes.

Dozens of people have been killed after a huge fire at an apartment block in Vietnamese capital Hanoi, state media said Wednesday.

Rescue workers carrying victims following a major fire at an apartment block in Hanoi. (AFP)

The fire started just before midnight on Tuesday (1700 GMT) in the parking floor of the 10-storey building, witnesses said, an area packed with residents' motorbikes.

"Authorities have rescued about 70 people, rushing to hospital 54 people, including dozens of dead," the official Vietnam News Agency said.

"This is a very serious fire," the statement said.

The blaze was out on Wednesday morning, although workers continued searching for survivors.

Rescuers struggled to access the building, in a highly residential area of southwest Hanoi, located down a narrow alley.

"We could not help them much," a woman, who gave only one name Hoa and lives near the block, told AFP at the site.

"The apartment is so closed with no escape route, impossible for the victims to get out."

It comes a year after a blaze in a three-storey karaoke bar in commercial centre Ho Chi Minh City killed 32 people.

Vietnam has experienced several deadly fires in recent years, frequently at entertainment venues like popular karaoke bars.