Fire in Hanoi: Neighbors recount details of two motorbikes catching fire and spitting fire
A desperate cry for help echoed from inside the house engulfed in flames. Neighbors rushed to break down the door and used dozens of mini fire extinguishers to put out the fire, but all efforts were in vain due to the terrible heat. The cry for help only lasted for 1 minute and then stopped.
Four hours after the fire at house number 9, alley 12, lane 17, lane 180 Kim Hoa (Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam ward, Hanoi) was extinguished, a man living about 50 meters from the scene was still in shock, not daring to believe the painful truth that his neighbor's family had died.
According to this man, at around 5am on October 11, many people living in alley 12, lane 17, lane 180 Kim Hoa, discovered the fire. He himself quickly ran to the burning house and shouted to let others know.
"I ran to the scene to try to break the door to save the trapped victims, but at that time the fire was raging on the first floor, there was nothing else I could do," the man recounted.
At the same time, Mr. Thanh, whose house was 20 meters away, also rushed out to mobilize people to put out the fire. According to Mr. Thanh, people had gathered about 30fire extinguisherMini water cannons were sprayed directly onto the first floor to put out the fire. Many others stood on the balconies and roofs of neighboring houses, using buckets and basins to pour water into the area in despair.
However, all efforts were unsuccessful.
"On the first floor, there were two motorbikes and many flammable objects, so smoke and fire billowed up and sprayed out. The heat was so terrible, we had to run away," Mr. Thanh said bitterly.
In that chaotic scene, Mr. Nguyen Duc Minh, a person directly involved in the rescue, still cannot forget the haunting sound coming from the fire.
"I heard someone shouting 'help me, help me'. But the cry for help only lasted about a minute and then stopped," Minh recounted.
According to initial information, at around 5am on October 11, people discovered fire and smoke rising from a 4-storey house in a deep alley in Hanoi. Although people shouted and used on-site equipment to put out the fire, they were unsuccessful because the fire spread too quickly.
Upon receiving the news, Hanoi City Police dispatched many Fire Prevention and Rescue Police teams with more than 30 officers, soldiers and 4 fire trucks to the scene.
Authorities determined that the house had a floor area of about 25 square meters, located in a small alley, 300 meters from the road, making it difficult to access and put out the fire. By the time the authorities arrived, the fire had engulfed the entire house, with thick toxic smoke.
Police had to use specialized breathing apparatus to go deep inside to search for trapped people, while simultaneously deploying attack teams to put out the fire and prevent it from spreading.
By 6am, the fire was under control and completely extinguished at 6:15am. Through searching, authorities discovered 5 victims had died.
Through search and rescue, the Fire Police force discovered 5 deceased victims, including: N.D.L. (born 1952); HTH (born 1956); NHM (born 1982); D.TS (born 1988) and NMV (born 2019).
