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Tuesday, 04:45, 26/12/2023

Worst fires and explosions in Vietnam in 2023

VOV.VN - Vietnam saw over 1,900 serious fire incidents between October 1, 2022, and September 30, killing a total of 144 people and injuring a further 113 others, including 93 major cases causing significant loss of life and property, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

56 people are killed and 37 people are injured in a blaze occurring at a nine-storey building in Alley 29/70 on Khuong Ha street in Thanh Xuan district of Hanoi at 11:22 p.m. on September 12.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, an electrical fault in a motorbike left on the ground floor caused the deadly fire which broke out at the mini apartment building in Hanoi late on the night of September 12.

The block had been designed in the tube house style, with approximately 40 to 50 flats available for lease, predominantly occupied by families and students. The 200 sq.m building, with about 150 residents, had been located in a very deep and narrow alley, thereby making it much harder for the firefighting units to approach and tackle the blaze.

About 15 firetrucks, along with 100 police officers in total, were deployed to the scene, with the fire being contained in about 45 minutes and thus prevented from spreading to neighbouring houses. As of 5 a.m. on the morning of September 13, about 70 people trapped in the building had been rescued.

Four people from the same family are found dead following a fire in Ha Dong district of Hanoi at 7:45 a.m. on May 13. The victims include a 67-year-old woman and her three grandchildren, aged 10, eight, and four. The fire occurred in a four-storey house covering 40 sq.m.

A fire sweeps through a house in Phan Thiet city of Binh Thuan province in southcentral Vietnam at about 6:30 p.m. on August 31, with the blaze caused by an electrical short circuit, injuring two children and claiming the lives of their mother and a man who attempted to save them.

A woman and her two children died and her husband was severely burned after an explosion at a one-story house in Hanoi's Thanh Tri district at 5:40 p.m. on October 26. Hanoi police said that preliminary investigations indicate that the husband was using a press machine to flatten scraps when he accidentally pressed a can of hairspray. The aerosol could have exploded and then spread the fire to a gas tank nearby, creating the larger fatal explosion.

Two adults and a young child from the same family were killed after a fire broke out at their electric motorcycle shop in Hanoi’s Hoai Duc district at around 2 a.m. on July 19. The three victims are a husband, 38, a wife, 33, and their seven-year-old daughter. Eight fire trucks along with more than 50 firefighters were dispatched to the scene. By around 3 a.m. on the same day the fire had successfully been extinguished, preventing it from spreading to neighbouring houses.

Two children and a teenager from a family died in a fire that engulfed a six-story house at around 5:20 a.m. on July 7 on Tho Quan street in Hanoi’s Dong Da district. Eight fire trucks had been dispatched to the scene, but the alley proved to be too narrow for them to enter, causing firefighters to struggle as they tackled the blaze. Usually with only one exit and inadequate safety standards, Vietnamese tube houses face severe fire hazards.

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