According to neighbors, the house where the fire occurred that killed 4 people was inhabited by many brothers. Before that, there were some conflicts that arose over the sale of the house…
As of noon on February 17, District 10 Police were still coordinating with relevant units to blockade and examine the scene of a fire in three houses in the alley of Cach Mang Thang 8 Street, which left four people dead.
According to the Fire Prevention and Fighting Police Department (PC07), Ho Chi Minh City Police had seven people escape the house fire. Four people died including: Nguyen Thi Hong Xuan (46 years old), Le Thi Hong Tuyet (47 years old), Tran Quoc Cuong (38 years old) and Le Hoang Dung (56 years old).
According to neighbors, among the dead victims, Mr. Dung and Ms. Tuyet were siblings; Cuong is Tuyet’s friend who came to visit from another place and stayed; Xuan is Dung’s sister-in-law.
Note that the alley leading to the fire scene is quite long. The house where the fire and smoke first broke out was about 4 meters wide and more than 10 meters long, with a ground floor and one floor structure; The alley in front is about 1 to 2 meters.
Because the house has two layers of doors and on the first floor there are many solid iron bars welded like a “tiger cage”, so accessing the fire was difficult.
At noon on the same day, Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen came to the scene to visit and encourage the victims’ families. Photo: HT
Standing near the scene, Ms. Hoang (54 years old, living in District 10) was still panicked after the fire. The woman said that around 3 a.m., many screams came from the alley, waking up many neighbors.
Some people ran out and saw the house 623/20/19 Cach Mang Thang 8 on fire. People around shouted, called for help and mobilized fire extinguishers and water sprinklers to control the incident.
“When the fire was still small, someone from upstairs broke the iron frame and carried the baby out” – Ms. Hoang said.
The burning house is located in an alley on Cach Mang Thang 8 street. Photo: HT
Another neighbor said that at the time of the fire, Ms. Xuan’s husband was able to promptly carry a child and break the iron frame on the first floor to escape. “And Mr. Dung – the victim is the second child in the family and works in electronics at Nhat Tao market” – this person said.
Ms. TT, 59 years old, living near the scene, said that the burning house had three brothers living. Recently, some people had conflicts and disputes about selling the house left by their parents.
Ms. TT suspected that the cause of the fire was arson. Photo: HT
“However, this house was left by the parents so that anyone who is miserable can come and live. The disputes have been reconciled by the ward twice. A brother who lived in the house previously threatened to burn the house down many times” – Mrs. T said and expressed suspicion that one of the victims had set the fire.
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Toan (41 years old, who suffered damage from the fire) said that around dawn when the whole family was sleeping, they heard neighbors banging on the door and shouting loudly.
“At that time, I, my wife and two children opened the door and ran out. We only had time to take our two motorbikes out and helplessly watched the fire but couldn’t do anything” – Mr. Toan said and said he only had time to run out and could not do anything. Take any identification documents with you away from the fire.
Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen awarded support money to Mr. Toan. Photo: HT
According to Mr. Toan, the fire at that time spread from house 623/20/19 and “the fire was very big.” At that time, Mr. Toan’s neighbors also turned on the water, but “people’s tap water was not big enough to put out the fire because the fire had grown so large.”
The man sadly said that the fire from the neighbor’s house spread to the attic of his house and completely burned down the house, “nothing remained”. Mr. Toan wants the authorities to consider his case so he can settle down in this house.
Mr. Toan’s house collapsed, and the assets inside were destroyed by fire. Photo: HT
It was noted that Mr. Toan’s house with one ground floor and one mezzanine collapsed, all the furniture and property inside burned.
At noon on the same day, Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen went to the fire scene, visited and encouraged the victims including Mr. Toan.
Secretary Nguyen Van Nen visited and encouraged Mr. Toan as well as requested local authorities to support Mr. Toan’s family to soon stabilize their lives. Besides, the Secretary also gave some support money to Mr. Toan.
The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.