Foreign tourists rescue Vietnamese kids from Da Nang hostel fire

Two foreign visitors were praised by authorities in Da Nang on Wednesday for their “heroic” efforts to save children who were trapped by a fire that broke out the previous afternoon.

The foreigners, named only as Valeria, 32, from Russia, and Jean Christophe, 46, from France, spotted black smoke billowing from the third and fourth floors of a hostel on Kinh Duong Vuong Street in Lien Chieu District just opposite to where they were staying, and went to investigate.

One of them found the door was locked and the owner was nowhere to be seen, so they smashed a window and break into the house to save two children aged 5 and 8 years old.

Firefighters were quickly on the scene to tackle the blaze, but the 12-story hostel has been closed for repairs.

An initial investigation found that a short-circuit in an air-conditioning unit on the third floor was to blame for the blaze.

The duo received certificates of merits and VND2 million ($87) award at the thank-you ceremony with local officials.