30 minutes to rescue woman trapped in wall crevice.

In Ho Chi Minh City , seeing a cat trapped in a wall crevice nearly 20 meters deep, Ms. Hoa tied a rope around herself and rappelled down from the rooftop to rescue it, but met with tragedy.

The woman fell into a wall crevice more than 20 meters deep.

Scene of the rescue of Ms. Hoa trapped in a wall crevice nearly 20 meters deep. Video : Provided by the police.

On the evening of June 16th, Nguyen Thi Thanh Hoa, 32 years old, residing on Ngo Quyen Street (District 10), was still in shock after being rescued by police following her escape from a 30cm gap in a wall. She was bedridden due to abrasions all over her body and required 20 stitches for a laceration on her knee sustained from falling from the top of a four-story building while trying to save her pet.

Around 8 a.m. that same day, after hearing from neighbors that her long-haired cat, imported from England, had been missing for a week and was stuck between the side walls of her house, she went up to the rooftop to check. Shining a flashlight down the dark gap, she saw the cat standing on the corrugated iron roof, shielding the window from rainwater, about ten meters above the ground. It kept meowing loudly when its owner called its name.

Fearing her cat would starve, Ms. Hoa tried tying a cage with food inside and lowering a rope for the animal to crawl into, but without success. She then used a nylon rope (the kind used for hammocks) tied to the rooftop railing, wrapped it around her waist, put on a helmet, and swung down through a gap in an attempt to bring the cat back up. Halfway down, the rope broke, and the woman, weighing about 40 kg, slipped and fell.

"My whole body was scraping against the rough cement, it was very painful. If I hadn't been wearing a helmet, my head would have hit the wall and I wouldn't have survived," she said. In the cramped space, unable to move, she panicked and cried for help, but to no avail. After a few minutes of calming down, she took out her phone and called 114. When the operator answered, the woman provided information about her situation and her home address.

Ms. Hoa was trapped between two walls after falling from the rooftop of a four-story building. (Minh Nghiem)

About five minutes later, Captain Phan Cong Hanh, 37, who was at the District 10 Fire Department headquarters 500 meters away, received a request for assistance. He and nearly 10 colleagues rushed to the scene. Standing on the rooftop looking down, they could barely see anything without shining flashlights. Both ends of the gap in the wall had been sealed shut. Captain Hanh tried to shout down to assess the victim's condition and devise a rescue plan.

The rescue team determined that if the victim remained calm, they could lower the harness to pull themselves up. In a more difficult situation, the rescuers would have to descend to reach the victim. However, the gap in the wall was too narrow, in some sections only 20 cm wide, making the second option very difficult and time-consuming. Furthermore, using a drill to cut through the wall could damage the house's structure. If the rescue process dragged on, the injured victim would lose blood, endangering their life.

At this point, upon hearing that Ms. Hoa was still conscious, Mr. Hanh and his teammates decided to use equipment to break the window frame, pump oxygen, and continuously reassure her. The soldiers brought down thick protective clothing for the victim to wear to prevent injury from friction during the ascent. Then they lowered two safety harnesses for the victim to tie to her legs and shoulders. One rope from the top floor pulled her up, while the rope from the third-floor window held her in place, preventing her from swaying or hitting the rough wall.

Captain Hanh recounts the moment he rescued a victim from a gap in the wall. Photo: Dinh Van

After the preparations, Ms. Hoa was pulled up. Four police officers took turns holding the two ends of the rope, shouting loudly to bring the victim up smoothly. Others held the other end of the rope to prevent the victim from falling back down. After nearly 30 minutes, Ms. Hoa was pulled to a third-floor window, still conscious although weak. Mr. Hanh covered the wound on the victim's knee and, along with his colleagues, took her to the hospital for emergency treatment.

"When I arrived at the hospital, my pants and shoes were soaked with blood, but she kept asking about the cat," he said.

According to the commander of the District 10 Fire and Rescue Police team, Ms. Hoa's case was very unusual, as she was trapped in a narrow gap only 20-30 cm wide. The victim survived because she was wearing a helmet beforehand and did not suffer any head injuries. The fall was from a height of nearly 10 meters, so the woman did not sustain serious injuries. The most fortunate thing was that the victim had a phone and contacted rescue in time; otherwise, delaying the incident would have been life-threatening.

Dinh Van

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