(Thuan An) “We thought we were going to die”: the fire that killed 32 people in a karaoke bar, near Ho Chi Minh City, reminded Vietnam of other similar tragedies, against a backdrop of recurring doubts on the security of these popular establishments.
Posted at 11:36 a.m.
The fire, which broke out around 8:30 p.m. local time on Tuesday evening, trapped around sixty customers and employees, as the party began at “An Phu”, an establishment in Thuan An (south) with a colorful storefront. and colored lights.
PHOTO DUONG TRI TUONG, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Today, the country deplores the deadliest fire in recent years, with 32 dead and 17 injured according to the police.
“When the fire broke out, I tried to go to the first floor, but I saw that there was too much fire, so I ran to the roof to find refuge there,” says Do Thanh Tu, a karaoke employee, at state media VNexpress.
“I saw people there, a lot of them were screaming. We thought we were going to die. A lot of people jumped,” he recalls.
“About thirty minutes later, the rescuers came for us. There was so much smoke that I couldn’t breathe,” he said.
The smoke stung the nose and eyes, describes to VNexpress a 20-year-old employee, Ngan, who took refuge on the roof, from where, with others, she struggled to be spotted by someone ‘a.
Charred shoes, motorcycle helmets and beer cans littered the floor on Thursday as police led Vietnam’s deputy prime minister into the charred interior of the bar.
Police in Binh Duong province then opened an investigation for “alleged violation of fire prevention rules”.
Authorities initially said the cause was an electrical short and the bar had met all fire safety standards in checks over the past three years.
Due to the intensity of the flames, firefighters had to drill a hole in a front wall to gain access to the interior of the karaoke bar.
Once the fire was brought under control, they found eight bodies in the toilets.
General inspection
Outside the hospital morgue, relatives of victims, some with flowers and a portrait of their loved one, lined up to identify the bodies.
Tran Thi Bich Van, 32, lost her husband, brother and brother-in-law in the fire. They had gone to karaoke after dinner.
“Around 10:40 p.m. the police called me and at that moment I knew they were caught in the fire,” she told AFP.
“His body is badly disfigured, but his face remains luminous,” she said, tears in her eyes, thinking of her husband.
This drama brought back bad memories in Vietnam, where other similar night fires cast doubt on these night establishments, suspected of not all following basic safety rules.
In recent years, two karaoke bars in the capital Hanoi have been ravaged by flames and, in 2016, 13 people died in one of these fires.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Wednesday ordered inspections of at-risk establishments, including popular karaoke bars in the country.