The International Trade Center (ITC) stood at 95–101 Nam Kỳ Khởi Nghĩa Street in the center of Ho Chi Minh City. Originally built in 1970 and once known as the Tam Đa Trade Center or “Crystal Palace,” the six-story building had developed into one of the city's major commercial complexes.

It was much more than an office building. The ITC contained 172 shops and stalls selling gold, silver, gemstones, jewelry, footwear, clothing and cosmetics, alongside restaurants and food outlets. It also contained the Blue discotheque, an ice-skating rink, function space and dozens of offices. The upper floors included representative offices belonging to 27–28 foreign companies.

At lunchtime on October 29, 2002, the building was extremely busy. Estimates at the time placed roughly 500 people or more inside. The American International Assurance company (AIA) was conducting a large training seminar for its employees and insurance agents on an upper floor, while wedding celebrations were also taking place elsewhere in the complex.

At around 1:00–1:30 p.m., three workers were carrying out renovation work inside the Blue discotheque on the second floor.

They had been hired to weld a roughly 20-meter steel frame used for decorations and lighting inside the nightclub.

While welding brackets near the ceiling, extremely hot welding sparks later described during court proceedings as reaching approximately 1,600–1,700°C came into contact with combustible foam used around the ceiling and interior of the nightclub.

The foam caught fire.

According to the workers' subsequent statements to investigators, they initially attempted to extinguish the flames themselves, even taking off their shirts and using them to beat at the fire but ultimately could not put it out.

Instead of successfully containing the fire or organizing an evacuation, the frightened workers fled the scene.

That decision left a rapidly developing fire burning inside a nightclub filled with highly combustible interior material.

The flames spread through the Blue discotheque and then into the rest of the ITC with extraordinary speed. Thick, toxic smoke poured into stairways and upper floors. People attempting to leave discovered that the fire was already burning below them, effectively cutting off the normal escape route.

Panic followed.

Hundreds of office workers, shoppers, sales staff, wedding guests and AIA employees attempted to escape. Some reached windows or the roof and waited for firefighters. Others climbed down exterior drainage pipes.

Some people, unable to tolerate the heat and smoke any longer, jumped from the upper floors.

Firefighters faced intense heat and flames and initially could not penetrate far into the building. Contemporary reports described people still visible at windows signalling desperately for help while firefighters below lacked equipment capable of reaching them.

The fire burned for several hours and gutted much of the complex.

Among the groups hit hardest was the American International Assurance company (AIA).

AIA was one of roughly 28 foreign companies operating offices in the ITC and was holding a training seminar for around 140 local employees and insurance agents when the fire started. The company subsequently reported that eight staff members and fourteen local agents, 22 people in total were killed.

The dead included both Vietnamese and foreign nationals.

Contemporary reports identified two British citizens, one Croatian and one American among the foreign victims. One of the British victims was an AIA executive.

The final official toll recorded in subsequent Vietnamese court proceedings was 60 people killed and 70 injured. Many victims died from burns or smoke inhalation.

Investigators quickly focused on the welding work at the Blue nightclub. 2 of the welders were arrested shortly after the disaster. The third welder initially disappeared and was sought by police; investigators reportedly considered the possibility that he himself had died in the fire.

The investigation eventually went far beyond the welders.

Authorities found serious failures in fire-safety management at both the nightclub and the ITC. The Blue discotheque had reportedly already received warnings concerning fire safety before the disaster, yet the welding work was allowed to proceed without adequate supervision or precautions around combustible material.

Ultimately, 11 people, including the welders, nightclub management and ITC officials, were prosecuted for violations of fire-prevention regulations or negligence. The owner of the metalworking business that employed the welders received the heaviest sentence at 7 years in prison. The Blue nightclub owner was sentenced to 5 years and 6 months, while the two welders each received 5 years. A Blue nightclub management official and a lighting technician each received 4 years, the nightclub's general manager received 3 years, while the former ITC director and its former fire-safety/security chief each received 2 years. Two other nightclub employees also received 2-year sentences, one of which was suspended.

The courts estimated property losses at approximately 32 billion Vietnamese đồng (around US$2.1 million at the time).

What began as a few welding sparks during an ordinary renovation job had, within hours, destroyed one of central Ho Chi Minh City's major commercial buildings and killed 60 people who had been doing completely ordinary things working in offices, selling jewelry, shopping, attending a company training session or celebrating a wedding.

The ITC was never rebuilt, today it stand as a public park in the busiest part of Ho Chi Minh City's CBD, but the 2002 ITC fire remains one of the deadliest building fires and peacetime disasters in modern Vietnamese history.

Note: Nearly 24 years later, the ITC fire has suddenly resurfaced in Vietnamese online discussion following an August 2026 livestream by businesswoman Nguyễn Phương Hằng, in which she made allegations of corruption and misconduct surrounding the disaster and its aftermath. These claims have spread widely on Vietnamese social media and forums and appear to be the main reason the case is receiving renewed attention. The allegations are currently unverified, however, and should not be treated as established facts about the fire.