As of the afternoon of December 20, Tan Binh District Police were still blocking off the scene to investigate the cause of the fire at a 4-story boarding house in Ward 12.
The two deceased victims were identified as Ms. T.T.T.N. (born in 2001) and Mr. N.T.T. (born in 2003, from Vinh Long). The cause of death was smoke inhalation.
Through initial investigation, the above house was rented by Mr. Nguyen Quoc Cuong (born in 1997, from Thua Thien Hue) since April 2024 and the room was sublet.
The house has a structure of 1 ground floor, 1 mezzanine, 3 floors, and 1 terrace. At the time of the fire, there were 23 people renting the house. When the fire was under control, the rescue police discovered 2 victims dead in room 301.
According to the investigation agency's report, upon receiving the information, the Fire Police Team of Tan Binh District Police coordinated with the Fire Police and Rescue Team of District 11 Police, Team 3 of the Fire Police and Rescue Department, Ho Chi Minh City Police, mobilized 7 fire trucks and nearly 40 officers and soldiers to the scene to put out the fire and rescue people.
Rescue teams and local people guided and rescued about 20 people from the fire.
At the scene, the burned area was about 15/280m2 of the house along with 8 motorbikes and some personal belongings, the value of which has not been estimated.
After the incident, the authorities of Ward 12 and Tan Binh District were present to support the families of the deceased with 10 million VND/person and the injured with 5 million VND/person.
Mr. Khuong The My - who supported and saved nearly 10 victims by climbing over his house to escape the fire - said: "Hearing the screams, I ran out to the street and saw black smoke rising from a rented room upstairs next to my house, so I ran into the house and opened the balcony door on the 3rd floor so that some people from the burning house could climb over and get to the ground safely....".
