Fire in Hanoi restaurant kills 11 people: Fire rages, blocking all exits
Witnesses said the fire broke out fiercely at the door, which was also where many motorbikes were parked, preventing them from rescuing the victims trapped inside the restaurant.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hop (living next to the Sing for Each Other cafe) is still in shock after witnessing the fire at 258 Pham Van Dong Street (Co Nhue 2 Ward, Bac Tu Liem District, Hanoi).
Ms. Hop said that at around 11pm on December 18, when she and her grandchild were preparing to go to bed, they heard many loud explosions on the first floor of the house next door.
"I heard shouts of fire, so I ran to the door to look. At that time, the fire had already flared up fiercely in front of the shop and spread to many motorbikes parked in front of the door," Ms. Hop recounted.
According to Ms. Hop, the fire was so big and spread so quickly that people could not rush in to save the victims inside.
Also living near the scene of the fire, Mr. Nguyen Minh Hung (31 years old) said that when he discovered the fire, the fire had already flared up fiercely and spread to the motorbike parked in front of the store.
"When I got close to the scene, I smelled a strong smell of gasoline, but I just thought it was because the motorbikes parked in front of the door had spilled out. We shouted for the people inside to run away, but no one called for help or ran outside," said Minh Hung.
Mr. Nguyen Duc Tuan (41 years old), who lives about 50m from the scene, shared that when the fire was discovered, everyone ran to the scene and saw that the fire had engulfed the entire first floor of the house, making it inaccessible.
"The fire was so fierce that many people were afraid it would spread to the cars and motorbikes parked around, so no one dared to rush in. Everyone could only call the Fire Police force to come to the rescue," said Mr. Tuan.
According to Hanoi City Police, as soon as receiving the news, the City Police mobilized forces.Fire and Rescue PoliceCity police and police from Bac Tu Liem, Nam Tu Liem, Cau Giay, Thanh Xuan, and Tay Ho districts arrived at the scene to coordinate with local authorities and people to organize fire fighting, rescue, and relief efforts.
After about 40 minutes, the fire was under control. Authorities guided, assisted, and brought 7 people out (of which 5 were in stable health, 2 were taken to the hospital for emergency care) and discovered 11 people had died.
Given the seriousness of the incident, Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Bui Thi Minh Hoai and Lieutenant General Nguyen Hai Trung - Director of the City Police, were present at the scene to direct the authorities to deploy rescue measures, investigate and clarify the cause of the fire.
At 0:00 on December 19, the City Police arrested the suspect CVH (born in 1973, residing in Dong Anh, Hanoi).
The City Police Investigation Agency has also issued a decision to prosecute the case of "Murder" and prosecute CVH to investigate and handle the act of burning down the restaurant, causing many deaths.
