Apartment fire: Father recounts the moment he saved his child from death over the phone

After the fire at Carina Plaza apartment building in District 8, Ho Chi Minh City that killed 13 people, Mr. Tran Tam Khoa (born in 1967, in Long Bien, Hanoi) is still very worried.

Mr. Khoa is the father of Mr. Tran Thanh Tung (22 years old), one of the lucky people who escaped the fire.

Mr. Khoa said that 5 years ago, his family bought an apartment on the 11th floor of Carina Plaza apartment building. He and his wife live in Hanoi, and their sons (22 and 24 years old) are living and studying in Ho Chi Minh City.

At around 1:30 this morning, he received a phone call from his eldest son saying that the apartment building was on fire. The son had gone out late and was downstairs in the apartment building's courtyard, while his 22-year-old brother was trapped in a room on the 11th floor.

Hearing his son's panicked voice, Mr. Khoa said the first thing he needed to do was help his son calm down.

He started calling his 22-year-old son who was trapped. Mr. Khoa advised his son to take a wet towel and cover his nose to avoid breathing in the toxic gas. Then the father instructed his son to quickly observe the surroundings for smoke and fire, and if possible, run down the stairs quickly.

"When my son said he couldn't go down the stairs, I immediately told him to run into the house and close the door. Then, he had to use wet towels, tie one towel around his hand, and stuff the rest into the cracks of the door to prevent smoke from entering the room. I continued to advise him to run out to the balcony and close the door tightly," Mr. Khoa recounted.

He continued: "In addition to instructing him to avoid smoke inhalation, I also told my son to hold his phone and turn on the flashlight when he was on the balcony so that people below and rescuers could detect him.

At the same time, I also called my relatives who lived nearby to come and help. Fortunately, when the rescue team finally arrived, my son was safely brought to the ground."

Mr. Khoa confided that during the 2 hours waiting for rescue forces to arrive, he was extremely worried. From Yen Bai, he immediately drove back to Hanoi at night. When he heard that his son was safe, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Mr. Khoa shared that after the shock last night, his son is now mentally stable.

Talking about the fire early this morning, Mrs. Tran Thanh Hanh - Mr. Tam Khoa's wife, is still in shock.

Ms. Hanh shared that last night, because she had to cancel her business trip, she returned home to Hanoi, turned off her phone, and went to sleep. She did not expect that at that time, her husband and children would have to fight that terrible fire.

“Perhaps last night, my child was the lucky one among the unfortunate victims. I am very grateful to my husband for being with my child when he needed it most. Perhaps the people I should thank are the rescue forces.

They fought the fire for hours to rescue people trapped in the building,” said Ms. Hanh.

According to Ms. Thanh Hanh, currently, people's awareness of fire prevention and fighting is still very poor. Therefore, to avoid unfortunate incidents that may occur, Ms. Hanh hopes that each person needs to equip themselves and their loved ones with the necessary skills to protect themselves in case of fire.

“In addition to each individual being aware, I hope building management boards need to regularly train residents in fire prevention and fighting skills on a monthly, quarterly, and yearly basis,” this woman added.