More than 20 police officers raced against time, simultaneously chiseling through walls and reinforcing the building with iron to prevent collapse and rescue an injured man trapped in a gap less than 30 cm wide.
At around 10 PM yesterday, Mr. Tran Van Tu, 74 years old, was watching television in his two-story house on Xom Chieu Street, District 4, when he heard a loud noise on the corrugated iron roof. Then he heard sounds coming from inside the wall. He went to the fourth floor of the neighboring house and shone a flashlight, finding a man in his 40s, over 1.6 meters tall and weighing about 60 kg, trapped in a narrow gap in the wall, barely wider than a hand's width.
The victim was trapped between the walls of four houses. Photo: Minh Bang
The victim lay on his back, arms outstretched, his body covered in scratches, struggling between two walls made of rough, uneven cement. Before falling from a height of about 10 meters into a gap of about 30 cm between the walls, some people saw the victim climb onto the roof of a four-story building and jump down into Mr. Tư's house.
"I don't understand how he could have squeezed through a gap in the wall about a handspan wide," Mr. Tu said, adding that initially, people tried to pull the victim out but were unsuccessful.
A few minutes later, five police officers from District 4 descended from the roof and lowered ropes, but the victim did not grab them. The gap was too narrow, preventing them from climbing down to rescue the person. Concerned that further drilling into the wall could damage the structure and cause the building to collapse, the police requested assistance from the professional rescue team of the Ho Chi Minh City Fire Department.
The victim was trapped in a narrow gap between the walls. Video : Minh Bang
More than 30 minutes later, Corporal Tran Thien Hieu, 24 years old, and over a dozen colleagues arrived to provide assistance. To prevent the wall from collapsing while widening the gap, the police used several 1-1.2 meter long iron bars to support it. The gap where the victim was trapped was near an intersection where four houses meet, so they calculated and chose the corner with the largest gap between the bathrooms of two adjacent houses to get the person out.
While demolishing the wall, Mr. Hieu reassured the victim, using his hands and blankets to cover the victim's face and body to protect him from flying debris, all while the victim continuously screamed due to deep wounds. At this point, the rescue team faced a situation where the victim's injuries and blood loss could be life-threatening, but they couldn't speed up the demolition process for fear of the cracks spreading and causing a collapse.
Rescue workers used drilling equipment to get the victims out of the wall. Photo: Minh Bang
After an hour and a half, rescuers managed to widen the gap in the wall enough for the victim to crawl out. By this time, the man was exhausted, gasping for breath, but had lost his composure, constantly cursing, "I don't trust you guys, don't touch me!" Meanwhile, the gap in the wall was too narrow and rough, preventing the rescuers from reaching him and pulling him out.
Noticing the man exhibiting signs of hallucinations, Lieutenant Colonel Hoang Huu Nam, the rescue team commander, called out to him, asking for his name and family members to create a friendly atmosphere. Afterward, the rescue team provided him with water and continuously persuaded him to cooperate. More than 30 minutes later, the man gradually moved, allowing the soldiers to pull him out. The victim suffered multiple injuries, including abrasions to his arms, legs, abdomen, and back, and was taken to the hospital for emergency treatment.
According to the police, the man had recently been released from prison and was living as a vagrant in the area. Tests revealed he tested positive for drugs.
Incidents of people getting trapped in deep wall gaps have occurred in Ho Chi Minh City. In June, police in District 10 rescued a woman who, while searching for her cat, had fallen from the rooftop of a house on Ngo Quyen Street and become trapped in a wall gap more than 20 meters deep and about 30 centimeters wide.
Dinh Van
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