Two hours battling the 'fire enemy' in a mini-apartment building.

Smoke and flames engulfed the upper floors, forcing residents to evacuate to the rooftops. Some people jumped onto the neighbor's roof with their young children, and stretchers rushed about through the night.

Around 11 PM on September 12th, Mr. Ngo Pho Dien, 67 years old, was on security duty at a mini-apartment building in alley 29/70, Khuong Ha Street, Thanh Xuan District, when he noticed an electrical outlet on the first floor was on fire. The fire was small, so he grabbed a mini fire extinguisher and sprayed it. "But the more I sprayed, the bigger the fire got, so I quickly shouted to alert the residents," he recounted.

At that time, the 10-story apartment building, approximately 200 square meters in size and divided into 45 apartments for rent and resale, had almost all its lights off. Most residents were asleep. Hearing a small explosion and the fire alarm, some young men from the upper floors ran down to put out the fire.

But a series of motorbikes on the first floor caught fire, emitting loud popping noises. Smoke and flames quickly engulfed the first floor. The air was scorching hot, and a column of gray smoke billowed up the stairwell next to the elevator. The group of young people, suffocated, abandoned their attempts to put out the fire and ran back upstairs to find an escape route.

The building has 9 floors plus a penthouse, with apartments on floors 2-9, each ranging from 35 to 56 square meters. The left side of the building faces an alley, while the back is half adjacent to residential houses and the other half to an alley. Photo: Giang Huy

On the upper floors, residents rushed out of their doors, but the stairwells were packed with people. Many ran to the rooftop to call relatives, or even took to social media to ask for help. Others jumped from the upper floors onto the roofs of their neighbors' houses.

Among them is Mr. Duong Quyet Thang and his wife, Tran Thi Thanh Huong. Their family of five, including the couple and their three children, lives on the third floor of a 50 square meter apartment. The apartment, which they sold eight years ago, became their new home after many years of renting in Hanoi .

Thang's family was getting ready for bed when they heard shouts of "fire!". Waking his wife and children up, he decided to have his 9-year-old daughter, Duong Thuy Linh, lead her 8-year-old brother, Duong Khanh Thien, to the rooftop, hoping the two children could escape the smoke and wait for the police to arrive. He and his wife stayed behind, using wet blankets and clothes to seal any gaps and prevent smoke from entering the apartment.

The smoke and flames grew thicker and thicker, the elevator stopped working, and the stairs were inaccessible. All escape routes were blocked by the raging fire. Three members of Thang's family scrambled to the back balcony, searching for an escape route through the tiger cage-like structure. Nearly a year earlier, after several fires in his townhouse, he had created an emergency exit from there.

Mr. Duong Quyet Thang suffered a broken left arm after jumping from the third floor of a burning apartment building onto the corrugated iron roof of a neighboring house while holding his child on the night of September 12th. Photo: Hong Chieu

Throwing the wet blanket onto the corrugated iron roof of the neighboring house, Thang hugged his 27-month-old daughter tightly and jumped from the third floor. The impact left him dizzy; he felt a sharp pain in his left arm and realized it was broken. His wife then jumped as well. The already sagging roof was punctured by the added weight. All three continued to fall, enduring the pain as they crawled out amidst screams, the sound of rushing footsteps, and the wailing of fire sirens. Nearly ten minutes later, rescue forces arrived and took all three to the hospital.

On the 6th floor, Trung's family proactively broke through the railing and escaped to the 5th-floor roof of their neighbor's house using a ladder they usually used for lighting incense. On the 7th floor, the family of 9-year-old Huy Minh covered their mouths and noses with wet towels, waiting for rescue. "Dad called for help from room 702, and Mom told me to do as the firefighters outside the window told me to do if they called out to carry me down, not to be afraid," the boy recounted while being cared for at the Pediatric Center, while his parents were conscious at Center A9, Bach Mai Hospital.

About 10 minutes after the fire started, the first fire trucks arrived at the scene. By then, the flames had spread to the upper floors, pouring out through windows and vents, spilling onto the balconies, and thick black smoke enveloped the area. At least 20 fire trucks were dispatched to the scene.

Because the apartment building was located deep inside an alley, with an entrance only about 3 meters wide, the fire trucks had to stop about 400 meters away. The firefighters extended nearly a dozen large hoses from the water tank, some directly connecting to pumps drawing water from a small pond next to the building. Over a hundred firefighters worked together to extinguish the fire from all directions.

Mr. Huy and his wife and children escaped death by rappelling down from the third floor. Photo: Pham Chieu

At the front of the apartment building, firefighters climbed ladders and broke through the iron bars to gain access inside. At the back, hoses continuously sprayed water to extinguish the fire and cool the area. The entire area lost power, and police had to use flashlights to approach the building from all directions to search for people.

Dozens of oxygen tanks were continuously pumped, being brought inside in turns. "Where's the stretcher?" a loud voice called out, as dozens of stretchers rumbled in and out of the dimly lit alley. "Hold on, child," the man, carrying a small child wrapped in a thin blanket, ran as fast as he could to the ambulance parked at the end of the alley with its door open.

A firefighter recounted that the building was pitch black, the stairwells slippery and obstructed, and the thick smoke forced the use of breathing apparatus. The only light from a headlamp wasn't enough to dispel the thick smoke, forcing rescuers to grope their way through each room searching for people. The priority was rescuing those who were still alive.

"We were searching for survivors to bring out," he said.

The man, clutching a baby wrapped in a thin blanket, ran out to the stretcher, repeatedly encouraging the child, "Hang in there, my child," in the early morning of September 13th. Photo: Pham Chieu

Pham Quoc Viet, from the FAS Angel first aid support team, said that after midnight on September 13th, two ambulances arrived at the scene to directly assist in the rescue. Unsure which rooms contained people, the team broke down doors to each house and managed to get more than a dozen people out. The rescue operation was interrupted at times due to the intense heat.

At 1 AM, the fire was basically under control, but there was still a lot of smoke inside, and small fires were still burning on the facade. As dawn approached, heavy rain poured down, and many firefighters were exhausted and struggling to move after nearly four hours of rescue work. More than 10 police officers were injured, some requiring emergency treatment. The deceased victims were brought out wrapped in blankets at 5 AM.

On the evening of September 13th, preliminary investigations by authorities determined that the fire had resulted in 56 deaths (of which 39 victims have been identified) and injured 37 others.

Relatives are frantically searching for the victims. Thang himself, the man who jumped from the third floor of the apartment building, is rushing into the pediatric ward at Bach Mai Hospital with his 8-year-old son and 27-month-old daughter, clutching his left arm in a cast, before returning to the hallway to wait for news of his eldest daughter. The two sisters got separated while running up to the 8th or 9th floor in a panic. His wife suffered injuries to her cervical and lumbar vertebrae and is currently receiving emergency treatment at Saint Paul Hospital.

Thang's parents and siblings are fanning out to various hospitals searching for information about their niece. "We've been to nearly a dozen hospitals but haven't found her," said Mr. Quynh, Thang's father-in-law, weeping and repeatedly praying for his granddaughter's safety.

Pham Chieu - Hong Chieu

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