Knowing there are people but can't do anything

On the morning of May 13, at 24 Thanh Cong Street (Quang Trung Ward, Ha Dong District, Hanoi) , a fire broke out, killing 4 people .

Living about 100m from the burnt house and being one of the first people to witness the incident, Ms. K. is still in shock.

“The fire broke out at around 7:44 a.m. I was at the end of the alley when I saw black smoke billowing from house number 24. People shouted and ran to help, but the red flames were pouring out, making all efforts to get close to the fire unsuccessful,” said Ms. K.

The moment the fire engulfed the 4-storey house (Photo: Xuan Hoa)

People are still shocked after witnessing the incident.

Ms. K. also said that when she saw the red flames bursting out and black smoke billowing from the first floor to the upper floors, everyone was very panicked. Many people called 114 and 113 to notify the police force to come to the rescue.

“At first, the smoke only came out on the first floor of the house, but it spread very quickly upstairs. Then the glass windows broke and there was an explosion,” said Ms. K.

Mr. N., who lives 30 meters from the burnt house, said that when he heard people shouting, he immediately ran to the burning house. At that time, the fire was red hot on the second floor, everyone shouted to each other to see if anyone had a fire extinguisher so they could bring it out to put out the fire.

“When we found out there were people trapped inside, we were very confused but there was nothing else we could do,” Mr. N. shared.

Previously, at 7:44 a.m., the City Police Command Information Center received a report of a house fire on Thanh Cong Street (Quang Trung, Ha Dong).

Upon receiving the news, the Command Information Center dispatched 4 fire trucks from the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Team of Ha Dong District Police and the Fire Fighting and Rescue Team of Area 4 along with dozens of officers and soldiers to the scene to put out the fire.

At 7:49 a.m. the same day, the units approached, searched for and rescued the victims, and deployed fire fighting. After nearly 20 minutes, the fire was basically extinguished.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the fire (Photo: Hanoi Police)

Authorities identified the homeowner as Mr. NQM (born in 1980) and his wife as Ms. NTH (born in 1984). The house that caught fire was 50 square meters wide, built with 3 floors and 1 attic.

The fire killed four people, including Mrs. NTKX (born in 1956, NQM's biological mother), NMP (born in 2013), NMĐ. (born in 2015) and NQMH (born in 2019), all of whom were children of the household owner. NQM suffered burns to both hands and was taken to the 103 Military Hospital for emergency treatment.

Initial investigation showed that the fire started on the first floor of the house.

At the scene, the authorities blocked off Thanh Cong street to assist in the investigation.

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