Initial information, at around 4am on February 21, people exercising discovered smoke and fire rising from inside the hotpot on Huynh Tan Phat Street, District 7. Immediately, people shouted, knocked on the hotpot restaurant's door and notified the adjacent businesses.
Hearing the screams, a woman in a pharmacy next door promptly opened the door and ran outside.
People mobilized mini fire extinguishers to put out the fire but failed. The fire quickly spread and broke out at the hotpot restaurant, then spread to the pharmacy.
"When I saw the fire, I called the hotpot owner but no one picked it up. When running out, the woman at the pharmacy also ran past the owner's house where the kiosk behind the fire was reported. Everyone put out the fire but at that time the fire was so big that the fire spread to the pharmacy," said a resident living opposite the hotpot restaurant.
Upon receiving the report, the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Team of District 7 Police quickly dispatched many vehicles and officers and soldiers to the scene. After many efforts, the fire was controlled and completely extinguished.
The fire burned down many properties inside the hotpot restaurant and the pharmacy. At the time of the fire, the hotpot was not inside.
The cause of the fire is currently being investigated by the police.
