Home explosion kills 3 in Hanoi suburb

Witnesses heard a loud explosion at around 5:45 p.m. and saw fire immediately break out of the one-story house in the southern commune of Tu Hiep in Thanh Tri District, around 12 kilometers from the capital city’s downtown.

Witnesses said that the explosion sounded like it came from a gas tank. Two motorbike drivers passing by fell in front of the house when the explosion happened.

The husband was then seen running out of the house screaming for help. He covered himself in a blanket and ran back into the house to try to save his family, according to witnesses.

Firefighters are seen at the site. Photo by VnExpress/Pham Chieu

The explosion and fire killed the mother, 31 years old, and her children, 13 and 5, both boys. The husband, 35, is being treated for burns at a local hospital.

The family originally came from the northern province of Nam Dinh. The parents worked as scrap collectors and kept many flammable materials inside their home.

Hanoi police said that preliminary investigations indicated that the husband was using a press machine to flatten scraps when he accidentally pressed a can of hairspray. The aerosol could have exploded and spread fire to a gas tank nearby, creating the larger fatal explosion.