A fire that ripped through a karaoke bar in the Vietnamese capital killed 11 people and injured two others in a suspected arson attack, police said Thursday.

Pictures on state media showed the blackened multi-storey building in western Hanoi, largely destroyed by flames, and piles of twisted metal strewn nearby.

Police said they received reports of a fire at 11pm (1600 GMT) "with many people trapped inside".

Rescue workers rushed to the scene and managed to bring out seven people alive, two of whom were rushed to hospital. Eleven people were found dead, they said.

"The police suspect that the cafe was (deliberately) burned down and ... have arrested the perpetrator," Hanoi police said in a statement.

Witnesses told state media the fire was so large that no one dared to attempt to rescue those trapped inside.

Nguyen Minh Hung, who was nearby at the time, told Dan Tri newspaper: "We were shouting for the victims trapped, but we heard no ask for help from inside the building." 

At least 34 people, including two babies were killed when a contraband fuel depot exploded into flames in southern Benin near the border with Nigeria on Saturday.

According to Beninese Interior Minister Alassane Seidou, “a serious fire occurred in the town of Seme Podji. Another 20 people were seriously wounded in the incident.”

"I can't really give you the cause of the fire, but there is a large gasoline warehouse here and cars, tricycles and motorcycles come from morning to evening,” he added.

Nigeria is a main oil and gas producer where fuel smuggling is very common along its borders, particularly when the government maintains a subsidy to keep fuel prices low.

The majority of the victims were burnt and they could not be not be identified.

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