HO CHI MINH CITY, March 3 (Xinhua) -- A total of 668 fires and explosions broke out in Vietnam in the first two months of this year, killing 20 people and injuring 38 others.

The fires and explosions also left property losses of nearly 104 billion Vietnamese dong (4.5 million U.S. dollars), the country's Fire Prevention and Fight Department said on Sunday.

Vietnam experienced 715 fires and explosions in the first two months of last year, which left 23 people dead and 59 others injured, and caused losses of over 342.4 billion Vietnamese dong (nearly 14.9 million U.S. dollars).

According to the department, Vietnam faced 4,075 fires and explosions which killed 112 people, injured 263 others, and caused property losses of some 1,700 billion Vietnamese dong (73.9 million U.S. dollars) in 2018.