Witness and victim accounts of the explosion at a car garage in Nghe An that left 6 people injured and dead

Up to now,explosion occurred at the garageLe Hien in Hamlet 12, Quynh Tan Commune, Quynh Luu District, caused 2 deaths, including Mr. Le Tien H. (born 1984, garage owner) and Mr. Nguyen Duy Nh. (born 1993, resident living near the garage). The explosion also injured 4 other people, including 2 children who were seriously injured and are being treated at Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital.

Le Hien auto garage, where the explosion occurred. In the photo: Authorities and local people came to offer condolences to the family. Photo: Viet Hung

As a witness to the scene after the explosion, Mr. Le Tien Cuong, a resident near the car garage, still in shock, said: “At about 4 p.m. on April 2, I was in the house when I suddenly heard a loud explosion accompanied by strong shaking for 2-3 seconds. Seeing that, I ran outside, looked towards the car garage and saw a heartbreaking scene, adults and children lying unconscious in a pool of blood with many pieces of metal scattered everywhere. At this time, people living nearby gathered to take the victims to the emergency room. As for Mr. Le Tien H. (owner of the garage), he was not intact.”

The house opposite the garage was damaged by flying debris. Photo: Viet Hung

At the scene, people witnessed the explosion, there was a depression on the ground, the corrugated iron roof over the garage had many holes, and many metal objects were scattered everywhere. The bicycles of three siblings living nearby were severely damaged. The explosion with such great destructive power affected the house of the neighbor opposite. Ms. Pham Thi Nguyet, a resident who lives opposite the garage, said: "The explosion caused many pieces of metal to fly everywhere, my house had a hole in the wall, the tempered glass and bricks inside the house were broken. Luckily, at that time, my eldest daughter was studying inside, and my three children and I were going to the market, so we avoided the accident. If we had stayed at home, I don't know what would have happened."

Ho Trong Nhat, a victim of the explosion, recounts the incident. Photo: Viet Hung

As reported by Nghe An Newspaper, among the 4 injured people, 3 were siblings in the same family. After the explosion, the victims were promptly taken to the emergency room by local people. Sitting on the hospital bed, Ho Trong Nhat was still trembling, not yet over the fear after the explosion. Nhat recounted that at around 4 p.m. on April 2, Nhat rode his bicycle carrying his 2 younger siblings, HTAĐ (10 years old) and HTKV (8 years old) to his cousin's house (living in the same neighborhood) to eat a party. When they had just arrived at Le Hien auto garage, the explosion threw Nhat's bicycle and his 2 younger siblings out onto the street.

“I was taking my two younger siblings to my grandfather’s house for a memorial service. When I got to the garage, I heard a loud explosion and then I didn’t know anything. When I woke up, I was lying on a hospital bed. After asking my relatives, I learned that the cause was an explosion. I felt stable now, but I still had pain in the back of my head and all over my body because of the metal fragments that flew in. My two younger siblings were seriously injured,” Nhat said.

Currently, Nhat's two younger siblings are being treated at Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital. Due to the severe injuries, doctors at the hospital had to amputate HTKV's forearm, cut off 2 crushed fingers on his left hand, and reattach 1 finger on his left hand to save his life. For the leg injury, doctors cleaned the wound, removed foreign objects, and temporarily fixed the bone with nails... At 1:30 a.m. on April 3, the emergency surgery for HTKV ended.

Next, the doctors continued to operate on HTAĐ (Nhat's younger sister) by cutting, connecting muscles, creating soft tissue wounds on the left calf, and removing foreign objects from the right thigh. At 3 a.m. on April 3, the emergency surgery for HTAĐ was completed.

Difficult circumstances of the family of three children who were victims of the tragic explosion. Photo: Viet Hung

It is known that the 3 children who were in the accident are the children of Mr. Ho Trong Nham (41 years old) and Ms. Le Thi Hoa (43 years old). For many years, Mr. Nham's family has always been among the poor and disadvantaged households of the commune. For more than a year now, the family has proactively requested to be removed from the poor household list and downgraded to near-poor household list. Now that all 3 children have been in the accident and need long-term treatment, the couple will face even more difficulties.