Hanoi: 10-storey mini apartment fire, cries for help at midnight, at least 3 people did not survive

On the morning of September 13, the authorities completely extinguished the fire at the mini apartment at Lane 29 Khuong Ha (Hanoi), began to approach the scene and search for victims.

According to the reporter's new records, as of 6 o'clock on the same day, many ill-fated victims of the fire have been brought out. About 40 minutes later, the ambulance was still on duty in front of lane 509 Vu Tong Phan. Police force, traffic police, street protection ... was also present to seal off the area.

Earlier, at 23:30 on September 12, at the 9-storey mini-apartment, 1 tum there was a large fire. The fire started from the 1st floor motorcycle parking area, then spread quickly to the upper floors and flared violently, the column of smoke rose tens of meters. Since the incident took place in the middle of the night, there were many people trapped inside.

It is known that this apartment is built in the style of a tube house with 1 façade, 3 sides bordering people's houses, divided into nearly 50 apartments for rent, mainly households and students. In which, 1 basement for parking, 8 floors of apartments and 1 tumble floor. Each floor is designed with 5 apartments with an area of 35 - 56m2.

As soon as the fire broke out, a family on the 3rd floor released the rope ladder to escape. Many others ran to the upper floors crying and calling for help.

A resident of the site of the fire said his family was asleep when they heard shouts of fire. Smoke started rising from below. "I called my wife up, prepared the escape rope to take to the balcony to find a way to escape and climbed downstairs from the 3rd floor," he said.

Receiving the news, Hanoi City Police, University of Fire Protection and Fighting ... Nearly 20 fire engines were immediately dispatched to the scene to try to put out the fire. Colonel Duong Duc Hai, Deputy Director of Hanoi City Police, was also present to directly direct the firefighting and rescue work.

Because the scene of the fire was located behind in a narrow alley, the fire service faced many difficulties. Fire engines can only park 300-400m from the scene, authorities must lead water cannons into deep alleys to put out the fire.

Around 2 a.m. on Sept. 13, the fire was essentially contained. More than 1 hour later, it began to pour heavy rain, but the authorities still tried to find the victim. Notably, during the rescue that brought people out, 1 police officer was injured. Many children were also removed from the scene of the fire.

Regarding the fire at Lane 29 Khuong Ha Street, Ms. T. said that at about 23:30, she was in her room when she heard a lot of loud explosions. Later, Mrs. T. went outside to find flames and black smoke enveloping the mini-apartment opposite her house. According to the neighbor, minutes later, police arrived at the scene. At this time, on the rooftop there was a group of adults and 1 child clinging to the window barricades calling for help.

"The fire started on the 1st floor and then raged violently. Many people in the house ran upstairs to call for help, others jumped onto the metal roof next door," Ms T said.

In addition, Ms. Van Anh (300m from the scene of the fire) also said that at the time of the incident, she heard many cries of "help me" from both men and women from the rooftop of the apartment. After about 5 minutes, the crying faded and disappeared. Moments later, dozens of fire engines and more than 100 police officers arrived at the scene to extinguish the fire.

Mr. Ngo Pho Dien, security guard of the mini-apartment building where the fire occurred, provided information that at the time of the fire, there were 45 households living in the building. According to Mr. Dien, after the fire, only about 5 households managed to escape.

Early this morning, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang and his delegation went to 29/70 Khuong Ha lane, Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi - where a mini-apartment fire occurred that trapped many people to encourage and comfort victims.

Currently, the fire is completely extinguished, most of the victims are taken to the emergency room at the 103rd military hospital (Ha Dong) and there are no statistics on damage to people and property. City police cordoned off the scene, scouring rooms from the 9th floor to continue searching for victims.