Quy Hop residents shocked by two consecutive explosions

Shocked

At around 5:30 p.m. on August 27, in Quyet Tien hamlet, Tam Hop commune (Quy Hop), a terrible explosion occurred, killing Mr. Hoang Van Quang (60 years old) and his wife Hoang Thi Huong (53 years old), both residing at the above address.

Not stopping there, 2 days later (August 29), while the victim's family was hiring an excavator and truck to clean up the scene, a second explosion suddenly occurred. The explosion injured the excavator and truck drivers, and many surrounding houses were seriously damaged.

A resident living near the scene of the explosion said that at around 5:30 p.m. on August 27, while sitting in front of her house, her grandmother was startled by the explosion. After looking at the scene, she saw a column of smoke rising up, and many people shouted in panic. Many people immediately ran to the scene. After many people used their phones to call Mr. Quang and Mrs. Huong but could not reach them, they realized that the two had been in an accident and immediately rushed into the house to check.

When they arrived at the scene, they discovered Mr. Quang dead in the kitchen. After that, the authorities and local people organized a further search and discovered Mrs. Huong's body a few meters away, crushed by many pieces of concrete and household items.

Some people living nearby added: In the second explosion, they heard a louder bang and many surrounding houses were damaged. Fortunately, in the morning, when the authorities came to examine the scene and the family members cleaned up the rubble, there was no explosion.

Even in the early afternoon, many family members were still in the back clearing debris and furniture. Only when the excavator was hired did they go to the front. At that time, many people were holding ceremonies for the deceased in front of the house, and the explosion happened in the back, otherwise the damage would have been more catastrophic.

Many people around also said that Mr. Quang and Mrs. Huong's family has 3 grown children, one of whom works in Vinh and the other is abroad. In addition to farming, Mr. Quang and Mrs. Huong also sell breakfast. When the first explosion happened, only the couple was at home.

Emergency treatment for injured and urgent search for explosives

After the second explosion occurred, two seriously injured victims, Hoang Manh Dai (45 years old) - the younger brother of Hoang Thi Huong, and Tran Cao Huy (37 years old) - an excavator operator, were taken to the Northwestern Nghe An Regional General Hospital for emergency treatment by local people.

At the hospital, we learned that the two victims were admitted at 5:00 p.m. on August 29 with multiple injuries, especially to the face, head, neck, chest, arms and legs.... Among them, victim Tran Cao Huy suffered the most serious injuries, with blurred vision, a perforated eardrum, and is currently unable to walk.

Mr. Tran Cao Huy recounted: his house is in Nghia Xuan commune (about 7km away), at around 4pm he was sent by the machine owner to the above mentioned area to drive the machine, cleaning up the rubble of the previous explosion. When he arrived, he had just driven the machine in, and had been scraping for a while when he heard an explosion, the whole car and person were lifted up. Sitting in the car, he felt like he was being electrocuted, rocks and dirt were thrown all over the car, smoke and dust were everywhere. Mr. Huy's car window was broken, rocks and dirt flew into his eyes and stuck in his chest, arms and legs.

"At that time, I couldn't see anything. I just reflexively crawled out of the car and called for help. A moment later, someone came in, carried me out, and took me to the emergency room," Huy recalled.

Mr. Hoang Manh Dai was also standing behind the excavator at that time. He had just taken one step out of the pile of broken bricks and rocks when a deafening explosion rang out, sending rocks and dirt flying into his face and body. Fortunately, Mr. Dai was standing behind the excavator at that time, partially shielded by the excavator, so he was not seriously injured.

Currently, according to doctors treating at the Northwest Nghe An Regional General Hospital, although the two victims did not suffer from traumatic brain injuries or internal organ injuries, due to the pressure of the explosion and the impact of debris, both their eyes and ears were severely affected and require further monitoring.

Also in a related development, today the engineering force of the Nghe An Provincial Military Command was present at the scene with many vehicles and technical equipment to detect explosive devices.

To ensure the safety of the surrounding people, the entire scene was blocked off, including Mr. Quang's house and 6 adjacent houses, and all residents living in these houses were evacuated to a safe place. Only after ensuring safety were residents allowed to return home.

Currently the case is being verified and investigated by the authorities.