Ho Tung Mau Fire - Hanoi: Heartbreaking eyewitness accounts, helpless loss

On the evening of January 9, a large fire broke out in Alley 136, Ho Tung Mau Street (Bac Tu Liem District, Hanoi). The incident burned down 5 houses, some households were left with almost nothing because the fire was so high that they could not move their belongings out in time.

According to Dan Tri newspaper, at 11pm, after the fire was extinguished, the owners of the heavily damaged houses stood across the street looking at their deformed and burned property beyond recognition with sorrowful eyes.

As one of the first people to discover the fire, Ms. Hang (living at No. 1, Alley 136, Ho Tung Mau Street) is still in shock. Her family did not suffer any property damage, but seeing her neighbor's house devastated after the "fire" visited, she could not help but feel sad.

According to Ms. Hang, at 8:00 p.m., a woman in house number 7 - where the fire is believed to have started, rented as a place to sell dairy products - rushed over in a panic: "Fire, fire". While feeding her child, Ms. Hang quickly dropped the bowl and ran outside to see the fire rising. The residents used mini fire extinguishers to put out the fire but were unsuccessful.

"The fire spread very quickly, flaring up strongly due to strong winds. Just 5 minutes later, the fire had spread to house number 5. The fire spread in a split second so the homeowner did not have time to take any property out. At that time, we could only shout for people to escape quickly, ensuring their safety, but no one dared to think about going inside to look for belongings," Ms. Hang recalled.

Running around cleaning up some belongings after the fire, Ms. Hang tried to comfort her neighbors and try to stay calm after the fire. Holding a flashlight to shine on the houses filled with black smoke, she expressed regret that her neighbors were not as lucky as her. She said that the end of the year and Tet were approaching, and she did not know how they would overcome the difficulties in the coming time.

Ms. Ngan (owner of house number 5, lane 136, Ho Tung Mau) and her husband stood there, stunned, watching their property burn down. The front yard with the iron gate was also left with only its frame left, deformed by the huge fire.

At the time of the incident, Ms. Ngan had just returned from exercising. From afar, this woman saw her neighbors shouting that there was a big fire. The scene was chaotic because the fire spread so quickly because the house that started the fire had cardboard boxes for packaging.

At the time the fire broke out, only Ms. Ngan’s children were home. No one had time to help evacuate the property because the fire from house number 7 was blown by the wind very quickly. During the fire, hearing the sound of electric wires exploding and the heat, people did not dare to come near. Ms. Ngan wanted to run in to grab a few things but was stopped by the neighbors because it was too dangerous.

"The fire was huge, the flames were as high as a mountain, reaching the height of an electric pole. My family had 3 motorbikes and all the property inside was gone. At that time, my family only had children at home, my husband was at work so we couldn't save our property in time," Ms. Ngan said sadly.

More than 2 hours after the fire was extinguished, Ms. Ngan still could not leave the scene. All of her belongings such as televisions, refrigerators, computers... were now deformed and covered in black. Looking at the messy scene, the whole family shook their heads in dismay.

The Commander of the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Team (PCCC&CNCH) of Bac Tu Liem District Police (Hanoi) said that at about 8:12 p.m. the same day, a fire broke out in a row of temporary houses in lane 136, Ho Tung Mau Street (Phu Dien Ward).

After receiving the news, Bac Tu Liem District Police, Cau Giay District Police, Thanh Xuan District Police, Nam Tu Liem District Police, Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Team of Region 2 (Hanoi Police), dispatched 12 fire trucks and dozens of fire police officers to the scene to put out the fire and search and rescue.

"At around 9:15 p.m., the fire police had controlled the fire. Five temporary houses were burned down, fortunately no one was injured or killed," informed the Commander of the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Team of Bac Tu Liem District Police.

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