Firefighting and rescue drill at Saigon Centre building

A hypothetical situation of 3,000 people panicking and trying to escape, many trampled, injured and trapped at the Saigon Centre building (Saigon ward) was set up during a fire prevention and rescue drill.

Many soldiers and modern equipment were mobilized in a firefighting and rescue drill at Saigon Centre building on the morning of October 31 - Photo: THANH HIEP

On the morning of October 31, Ho Chi Minh City Police organized a fire prevention and fighting and rescue drill at Saigon Centre building, Saigon ward.

Hypothetical situation, at about 8:50 am, in the basement parking area B2, fuel leaked from some motorbikes encountered a fire source and caused a fire.

From this vehicle, the fire spread to surrounding vehicles causing an explosion, large heat radiation caused the fire to spread to the electrical cable area, electrical wire tray on the ceiling, creating a large fire with a lot of smoke, toxic gas spreading to the surrounding areas of basement B2 and spreading to the upper floors of the building in the direction of the ramp, stairs and technical gene box...

The fire caused chaos in the 5th floor of the shopping mall where a crowded event was taking place. When the fire alarm sounded, thousands of people panicked and looked for a way out. The elevators stopped working, and people crowded onto the stairs, creating a scene of jostling and pushing.

At the time of the incident, there were about 3,000 people trying to escape, causing panic and pushing each other, making the initial evacuation and firefighting extremely difficult. The accident injured 12 people and trapped 30 people in the building.

Immediately after receiving the news, the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Department of Ho Chi Minh City Police mobilized hundreds of officers, soldiers and many specialized vehicles to quickly arrive at the scene, coordinate with professional teams to deploy fire fighting and search and rescue people trapped in the building.

The forces were divided into many groups and coordinated smoothly. The 100-member firefighting force quickly activated the automatic fire alarm system, used fire extinguishers and wall hydrants at basement B2 to control the initial fire, and at the same time guided thousands of people to safety.

Just a few minutes later, professional teams arrived at the scene from Le Loi and Nam Ky Khoi Nghia streets, deploying fire trucks, ladder trucks, robot trucks, pumping stations, smoke extraction trucks, and rescue vehicles to handle the incident.

Some images recorded at the rehearsal:

Major General Nguyen Thanh Huong, Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Police, gave a speech at the drill.

The hypothetical situation is that a fire spread rapidly in the basement parking lot. Upon receiving the call for support, the fire prevention and rescue forces quickly mobilized soldiers and equipment to the scene.

After the fire alarm system is activated, the process of evacuating people from the building in an orderly manner takes place under the guidance of the building's security force.

The self-propelled fire-fighting robot is controlled by soldiers to spray water to increase the effectiveness of extinguishing large fires. This robot has the function of extinguishing fires and forces are limited in accessing the depth of the fire.

Rescue forces carried the injured victims out of the scene, handed them over to medical units, the Red Cross gave them first aid on the spot, then classified them and transferred them to ambulances to the nearest hospital.

The fire fighting force used the sprinkler system installed inside the building to try to control the fire, waiting for support.

Smoke extraction trucks were mobilized to suck toxic smoke from the fire out of the scene, reducing pressure on firefighters fighting the fire from inside.

Specialized ladder system to bring victims from high places to the ground safely

Soldiers and service dogs were mobilized to search and rescue trapped victims.

Soldiers equipped with oxygen masks and fire-fighting gear are ready to wait for orders to go deep into the scene to control the spread of the fire.

The soldiers strained to continuously adjust the nozzle towards the fire.

Source: https://ttbc-hcm.gov.vn/dien-tap-chua-chay-va-cuu-nan-cuu-ho-tai-toa-nha-saigon-centre-1019886.html