Ho Chi Minh City Seeing the fire engulfing the living room of the locked house with a mother and child trapped inside, many people tried to put out the fire, using pliers to break the lock but were helpless.
On the morning of June 28, Mr. An, 25 years old, the son of the owner of the house that burned down, killing two people on Nguyen Cuu Van Street, Ward 17, Binh Thanh District, stood sadly at the scene, waiting to receive the body of his relative to arrange the funeral.
Yesterday afternoon, on his way home from work, he received the bad news that his 91-year-old grandmother and 55-year-old uncle were trapped in a house on fire. When he got home, the alley leading to his house was blocked off, and firefighters tried to use the hose to put out the raging fire.
Ms. Trang stands in the room where the fire spread from the level 4 house that killed her and her child on the morning of June 28. Photo: Dinh Van
Living next to the burning house, Ms. Nguyen Thi Trang, 53 years old, said the fire started in the neighbor's living room at 6 pm. After 2-3 minutes, the fire flared up fiercely, breaking the window glass and spreading to the neighboring houses, including Ms. Trang's house. She also heard shouts that the house was on fire and two people were trapped.
However, at this time the house was locked from the outside, and neighbors could not get inside. Nearly ten people brought mini fire extinguishers to put out the fire but could not do it all. According to Ms. Trang, when they saw the old mother and son at the end of the house, many people used hammers, pliers and force to cut and break the gate lock to get inside but were blocked by the hot fire coming from the living room.
Many items were burned black in the 90-square-meter house, with bare walls and broken bricks after the fire. Photo: Dinh Van
They stood outside trying to urge the son to use the key to open the door as he tried to hug his mother to get out. "The fire spread very quickly, in nearly ten minutes it engulfed the whole house, even though we tried to put it out, it was useless," said Ms. Trang.
The house on fire is over 90 square meters wide, divided into two areas, located just one kilometer from the city center. The left area has a living room, dining room and a bedroom, with a glass door in front. The other two bedrooms and the kitchen are in the right area. When the fire broke out, the two victims were in this area, about 10 meters from the door - the only exit.
Mr. An said that his grandmother and mentally disabled uncle live with him and his family of three. Every day, he goes to work, his sister goes to school, and his mother teaches at the Thanh Da English Center, about three kilometers from home. As a habit, when he and his grandmother leave the house, they usually lock the outside door to keep out strangers, but still leave it locked for people inside to open the door.
The front of the house is fenced with B40 mesh, the iron gate was locked when the fire broke out. Photo: Dinh Van
According to Mr. An, his grandmother and uncle live together in the bedroom at the end of the house. His uncle still knows how to open the door to let relatives in or goes to church every week, but when there is a fire, he may panic and not be able to handle it. "My uncle is sick but loves his grandmother very much. When the fire broke out, he probably wanted to save her so he got stuck there," Mr. An said, adding that the fire was likely caused by an electrical short circuit in the living room and spread to many flammable furniture.
About 15 minutes after the fire broke out, Binh Thanh District Police dispatched three vehicles and 18 soldiers to the scene and put out the fire at 6:45 p.m. The house had only bare walls, the heat caused the bricks to crumble, many items were charred black, and the corrugated iron roof to warp. The fire also spread to the neighbor's three-story house, burning many items in the first-floor room.
According to the police, the fire may have started several minutes before, but there was an elderly person lying in bed in the house, and the other victim was sick so he could not raise the alarm or call for help. When outsiders discovered it, the fire had already flared up and caused a large fire. The cause of the fire is being investigated by the Ho Chi Minh City Police.
Dinh Van
Source link
Comment (0)