Fire victim says he couldn't find escape hammer
On July 22, Lao Dong Newspaper reporters interviewed 2 passengers who escaped the passenger car fire that killed 7 people that occurred at 2 am on July 21 on National Highway 1, Hung Thinh commune, Dong Nai city. Currently, these 2 passengers are being treated at Thong Nhat General Hospital in Dong Nai, their health condition has been relatively stable.
Mr. Nguyen Van Thong (37 years old, residing in Long Binh ward, Dong Nai city) said that at about 10 pm, the car departed from Khanh Hoa province to return to Dong Nai.
Mr. Thong went with his wife, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Bich (35 years old) and 2 children, N.N.T. D (2 years old) and N.T. T (7 years old), Mr. and Mrs. Thong were lying in the area near the middle of the car, number rows A7 and B7, each person in each row of beds and taking care of one child.
Mr. Thong said: When the car was about 15-20 minutes away from home, the car suddenly had an accident and caught fire. When the fire broke out, Mr. Thong went to look for a fire escape hammer in his row of beds and 2 rows in front and behind but did not find the hammer or fire extinguisher.
After that, Mr. Thong broke the glass door but failed, Mr. Thong shouted to his wife to take his 2 children and run towards the front door, but at first passengers standing in the row of beds from row number 1 to number 6 blocked all the way in front because the middle corridor was very narrow, just enough for one person to walk. Mr. and Mrs. Thong weaved through little by little, when they stepped out to the main door, the fire had flared up high, Mr. Thong's whole family had time to jump out of the car, in which Ms. Bich was the last person to jump out in time, just a few minutes later the car caught fire fiercely.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Bich said that she is currently relatively stable but is still haunted because she was the last person to escape. When she rushed out of the car, in just a moment the fire engulfed the whole car.
In addition, 2 children N.N.T. D (2 years old) and N.T. T (7 years old) who were burned are also being treated at Children's Hospital 1 in Ho Chi Minh City.
The fire and smoke spread very quickly, covering the entire car.
Previously, on the evening of July 21, the Investigation Police Agency of Dong Nai City Police issued a Decision to prosecute the case, prosecute the defendant and apply temporary detention measures against Tran Thanh Hai (born in 1985, residing in Ninh Hai commune, Khanh Hoa province) to investigate the act of "Violating regulations on road traffic participation" under Article 260 of the Penal Code, related to a particularly serious traffic accident that occurred on National Highway 1, in Hung Thinh commune, killing 7 people and injuring 6 people.
According to initial investigation results, at about 2 am on July 21, Tran Thanh Hai was driving a sleeper passenger car with license plate 50E-447.02 of Nam Lu Trading and Transport Co., Ltd. traveling from Khanh Hoa province to Ho Chi Minh City. When arriving at Km 1839+300 National Highway 1, belonging to Hung Thinh hamlet, Hung Thinh commune, Dong Nai city, due to dozing off, Hai let the car continuously collide with two protective railing sections on the right side of the road.
After the collision, the front of the guardrail pierced the undercarriage, causing the vehicle to turn off and catch fire fiercely from the front area. Because the car only had one door for going in and out using a steam opening and closing system, when the engine stopped working, the door could not be opened. Hai and assistant driver Le Quoc Dat broke the main door, guided and managed to get some passengers out.
However, the fire and smoke spread very quickly, covering the entire car, causing many people to not have time to escape. The accident resulted in 7 deaths, 6 injuries; the passenger car and many passengers' belongings were completely burned down.
Immediately after the incident occurred, Tran Thanh Hai went to Hung Thinh Commune Police to surrender and confessed the entire diễn biến of the accident.
