After getting his wife, children and grandchild out, Mr. Chung could not go back in to save the other family members even though he heard them screaming for help because the fire was too big.

Mr. Chung could not return to save his relatives because the fire was too big. Photo: Phuong Son

Escaping the fire last night, his body covered in smoke and his eyes filled with tears, Nguyen Van Chung absentmindedly recalled the terrible moments his family had to go through.

Chung is the eldest of three children. He and his wife live with his parents and his younger brother Hieu's family in a three-story house, over 20 square meters wide. Chung's father is sick so he sleeps and lives on the first floor, he and his wife live on the second floor, and his younger brother's family lives on the third floor.

Mr. Chung did not know when the fire broke out because the whole family was fast asleep at the time. Only when he felt the stuffy air and the burning smell did he jump up, open the door to check and saw the fire raging fiercely. The inside of the house was engulfed in thick black smoke. "I closed the door, kicked hard on the window, broke the bars to find a way out," the man born in 1978 recounted.

At this time, Mr. Chung's wife, children and 12-year-old niece were awake. They quickly climbed out the window to the second floor balcony and slid down the metal roof to escape. At the same time, Mr. Chung heard his mother calling from the attic.

"My mother called Hieu and asked for help. My younger brother also called the neighborhood leader. After taking my wife, two children and my nephew out, I intended to go back to find a way to save them, but I couldn't because the fire was too big," Chung sadly recounted.

When the fire broke out, Chung’s father was sleeping on the first floor. Although he was lying close to the door, due to his weakness, the three motorbikes caught fire and burned so much that he could not escape.

Early this morning, after escaping the disaster, Chung's wife and two children were taken to his parents' house.

Also escaping from the fire last night, Duong Thuy Linh (12 years old), the daughter of Mr. Chung’s younger sister, was in a state of panic, hugging her relatives tightly. Linh was taken by her mother to her grandparents’ house last night and slept with her uncle’s family on the 2nd floor.

Linh, one of the five victims who escaped safely, was still scared and crying next to her family. Photo: Ba Do.

"When I heard my uncle calling, I woke up and smelled a burning smell and smoke coming into the room. Uncle Chung kicked the window open, broke the bars, and let me crawl through. Once outside, my aunt and I welcomed my brother and sister-in-law down through the corrugated iron roof in front of the door," Linh choked up as she recounted.

When she got down safely, the 12-year-old girl said she heard her grandmother calling for help on the top floor, but the fire was too big for anyone to rush in to save her.

Quietly watching the rescue team move the bodies of the five unfortunate neighbors to the ambulance, Mr. Bao, who lives near the scene, said that in the middle of the night he smelled a burning smell and heard the screams of his neighbors and rushed out to see. The neighbor's house was now covered in black smoke, and the fire was spreading from the first to the third floor. People in the alley saw this and shouted to try to put out the fire but were unsuccessful.

"The fire was so big, we could only stand there and watch helplessly, listening to the screams. What happened was beyond imagination, it was unbelievable that their family had to bear such a great loss," this neighbor said sadly.

According to some residents, one of the reasons why they could not rescue all the victims was that the house was located at the end of a dead-end alley, close to other houses at the back, so firefighters could only approach from one direction, from the front door. The house was built quite solidly, with no way to escape upstairs or to neighboring houses.

Relatives of the victims cried as they saw the bodies of each person being brought out. Photo: Phuong Son.

At around 7:30 this morning, after bringing the victims out, the authorities began examining the scene to investigate the cause of the incident. According to observations, on the first floor of the house, 3 motorbikes and many belongings were burned. The second and third floors up to the attic were burned black.

According to an investigator, the investigation will take a long time because all the items in the house were burned down.

Previously, a fire at night at a 3-storey house in lane 190 Hoang Mai street (Hoang Mai, Hanoi) killed 5 members including the homeowner couple, their son and his wife, and an 8-month-old baby.

According to Vnexpress