3 dead, 1 seriously burnt in house fire in central Vietnam

Residents in Quynh Xuan Ward, Hoang Mai Town reportedly heard crackling sounds coming from the house of 40-year-old Le Tien Ngu around 3:00 am.

As neighbors rushed to the source of the sound, they found Ngu’s eldest son Le Tien Dam, 22, and his wife trying to break open the door, screaming “Everybody, please, save my parents, save my brothers…!”.

Still haunted by the tragic fire, Dau Thi Hang, a neighbor of Ngu’s who was first to arrive at the scene, recalled, “Smoke and fire could be seen engulfing the back compartment of the house when we arrived. Sounds of small blasts could be heard coming from the fire, so nobody dared to come close to the house”.

The fire was put out thirty minutes later, only to reveal a haunting scene inside the house.

Ngu and his wife Nguyen Thi Cot, 38, were found burnt to death on the floor near the bed.

The deceased husband and wife were living in the house with their 19-year-old twin sons Le Tien Dieu and Le Tien Dong, their oldest son Le Tien Dam, and his newly-wed wife.

At the time of the incident, Dam and his wife were sleeping in the front compartment and were unharmed by the fire.

The twins Dieu and Dong were also severely burnt, and were immediately admitted to Nghe An General Friendship Hospital for medical treatment.

Nguyen Huu Tan, a doctor in the emergency ward at the hospital, said the two patients were admitted at around 5:00 am on Monday with up to third-degree burns on their bodies.

According to Tan, Dieu had burns to 90 percent of his body, while Dong had burns on up to 80 percent of his.

Due to the severity of the burns, the victims were transferred to the National Institute of Burns in Hanoi for further treatment.

Given his terminal condition however, the twin’s family asked for Dieu to be taken home, and he died on the way.

The bodies of Ngu and his wife were handed back to their family for funeral proceedings at noon on Monday, after the police had carried out an autopsy.

Vu Van Tu, chairman of Quynh Xuan Ward People’s Committee, said Ngu was a freelance laborer, while his wife sold poultry at a local market.

The family enjoyed a fairly comfortable life, and rarely engaged in arguments, according to Tu.

Speaking with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Monday afternoon, Lieutenant Colonel Pham Ngoc Anh, police chief of Quynh Xuan Ward, said, “As three of the victims are dead and one is still in a critical condition, we are having difficulties collecting testimonies from live witnesses. For the moment, police are investigating into two possible causes of the fire, an electrical short-circuit and gasoline, since the scene smelled of gasoline”.

Meanwhile, Le Tien Dong, the only survivor of the fire, is still in a deep coma due to the severity of his injuries.

“Dieu has recently finished school and taken up taxi driving a month ago, while Dong is revising for his university entrance exam,” Le Tien Tu, the twins’ uncle said with tears in his eyes, “Dieu didn’t make it, and Dong only has a 20 percent chance of surviving. We are doing our best to take care of him. We only hope he will make it”.

Responding to rumors that the fire was an act of arson, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Binh Ha, police chief of Hoang Mai Town, said his division was coordinating with Nghe An Police to investigate the cause of fire in the shortest possible time.