Eight people died apparently of suffocation inside a privately owned lime kiln in the central province of Thanh Hoa on Friday.

The incident happened at around 4 p.m. when eight people were working in the kiln run by Le Van Thong in a rural village.

The workers reportedly collapsed and fainted. They were rushed to hospital but eight of them died soon after arrival.

Thong, his daughter and his daughter-in-law were among the dead victims. 

Medical examiners believed the workers had been suffocated by gas.