A huge fire broke out in four factories in Trung Van ward, Nam Tu Liem district, Hanoi on April 12, causing eight deaths and panic among hundreds of local residents.The eight victims included a couple and two children of a whole family.
According to preliminary reports, the blaze was sparked in four factories including a cold storage workshop of Refrigeration Electrical JSC, an establishment for making moisture-proof beads of Phuong Lan Ltd.Co, a warehouse for finished wood furniture and a waste plastic container plant of Environment Company 79.
The Hanoi Fire Prevention, Fighting and Rescue Police Department mobilized all available resources and dozens of specialized fire engines to control the fire.
The total burnt-down area is about 1,000m2 and fire fighters encountered difficulties in extinguishing the blaze as the huge flames and intense heat spread throughout the factories.
After the fire broke out, Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen Duc Chung and Vice Chairman Nguyen Van Suu were present at the scene to direct the work of firefighting and the handling of consequences.
Chairman Chung asked fire fighters to take the victims to Hospital 198 and assigned Hanoi police to identify the victims and in case of not being identified, DNA testing was required to clarify the identity.
The city’s authority supported each victim's family with VND10 million (US$430) for funeral costs.
Functional units are continuing to search for more victims and investigate the cause of the fire.
On March 15, the Hanoi Fire Prevention, Fighting and Rescue Police Department reported that since the beginning of 2019, there were 164 fires that caused three deaths, injured seven people, property damage was estimated at more than VND2 billion (US$86,000).
The number of fires has decreased by 40 cases, property damage has decreased by more than VND140 billion (US$6.02 million) but increased by one death, two injuries compared to the same period in 2018.
The followings are images at the scene of the fire on April 14, which were taken by Kinh Te & Do Thi reporters:
