Apartment fire that killed 8 people: Revealing the last call, witnesses told shocking things

On the morning of July 7, at Binh Hung Hoa funeral home, the atmosphere of mourning enveloped when the relatives of the victims of the terrible fire at Independence Apartment, Phu Tho Hoa Ward (former Tan Phu District) on the night of July 6, waiting to receive the bodies.

The call for help and the moment of witnessing the sea of fire

Ms. Do Tran Nguyet Anh is still shocked when she remembers the fateful moment on the night of 6/7. At about 9:30 p.m., while near Dam Sen Park, Ms. Anh received a call for help from her sister, who was staying in the apartment at 80/7 Admiral Long Street – where the fire occurred. "Go through the rescue immediately, Ut", Ms. Anh's sister's voice rang out on the phone, full of panic and pleading.

Immediately, Ms. Anh called 114 to report the fire, then hurriedly drove to her sister's house. The distance of about 10 minutes seemed endlessly long in extreme anxiety. During the journey, she tried to call her sister and her husband back but no one picked up the phone.

When she drove home, the scene in front of her made Ms. Anh dumbfounded: "As soon as I drove home, I only saw a bright red flame covering the whole house. The surrounding people tried to use a mini fire extinguisher but could not control the fire," she choked up.

According to Ms. Anh, the apartment of the relative's family is located on the ground floor, with an area of about 60m², including a living room, kitchen and two bedrooms. At the time of the fire, there were many items in the living room for the husband's event organization, a four-seater car and two motorbikes.

"I used to advise you to clean up your belongings in the house to avoid the risk of fire and explosion. But unexpectedly...", Ms. Anh choked her voice, unable to finish the sentence. At about 11:30 p.m. on the same day, the woman witnessed the authorities taking the victims out of the apartment one after another, including her sister and her two children. All of them have no sign of life.

Stories from Survivors and the Helplessness of Neighbors

The fire not only took the lives of 4 people in Ms. Anh's sister's family, but also caused another adjacent apartment to also have 4 people gone forever, including two grandparents (N.T.H.H, born in 1952 and H.H.H, born in 1950) and two daughters.

Mr. Tran Quang Khanh (55 years old), a resident living on the upper floor of the burning apartment, recounted the terrifying moment. When the fire broke out, he was sitting in the living room when he heard many loud explosions. "I heard people screaming, so I hurriedly hugged my child and ran outside, then came back to get the papers, everything was engulfed in smoke and fire," Mr. Khanh said shocked.

His family was lucky to escape, but all their belongings were burned. Mr. Khanh choked up when referring to the two children downstairs: "Every day I see the children playing in front of the house. Now I hear that they are both gone, I can't believe it."

Ms. Huong, a resident who has lived for more than 10 years at Independence Apartment, said that the building was built more than 20 years ago, each floor has 11-14 apartments. On the ground floor, many households have reinforced themselves with iron doors and erected solid iron frames to store cars or daily necessities, making emergency exits limited.

"When the fire broke out, the neighbors tried to break down the door to save people inside but were helpless. We had to use a hacksaw, but the fire was too big, no one dared to enter," Ms. Huong recounted the helplessness of the people before the fire. An apartment on the first floor was completely burned down, but 5 family members narrowly escaped.

Urgent investigation and direction from city leaders

As soon as the news was received, the Ho Chi Minh City Fire and Rescue Police. Ho Chi Minh City dispatched more than 10 fire trucks and dozens of soldiers to the scene. However, due to the rapid spread of the fire and the enclosed space and self-reinforcing structures of the apartment, access and rescue were very difficult. By the morning of July 7, the victims were transferred to Thong Nhat Hospital and Tan Phu Hospital for forensic work, then taken to Binh Hung Hoa morgue.

On the same day, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City. Nguyen Van Duoc was present at the scene of the fire. Here, the city's leaders directed the remediation work, and at the same time shared their deep losses to the relatives of the victims.

He also assigned the Ho Chi Minh City Police. Ho Chi Minh City urgently investigated and clarified the cause of the fire, especially the factors that caused the fire to spread quickly and cause great damage to people and property. In particular, it is required to verify the responsibilities of relevant organizations and individuals. In case of detecting violations of regulations on fire protection, they must be resolutely handled strictly according to law.

Hanoi apartment fire: The landlord confessed to causing outrage, 1 defendant supported 200 million VND Phi Yến16:37:05 10/03/2025Today (10/3), the People's Court of Hanoi conducted the trial of 8 defendants in the fire of Khuong Ha mini apartment (Thanh Xuan, Hanoi). In court, the apartment owner made statements that made many people angry.