A drill for crowds to escape emergency situations took place at the Nguyen Hue walking street in HCMC's District 1 at 9:30 a.m.
In the simulated scenario, a concert was taking place at the venue with millions of participants when an electrical fault caused an explosion at the stage, resulting in a stage collapse that sent thousands into a panic. People began to trample on each other, resulting in hundreds of deaths and injuries.
Several people covered their noses and mouths as they navigated through the smoke. Thousands of people ran from the Nguyen Hue walking street to Ton Duc Thang Street, impeding traffic.
126 vehicles and machineries, along with thousands of soldiers, were dispatched to the scene. A team of firefighters was soon deployed to evacuate vulnerable people away from the site to reach the other side of the Saigon River in Thu Duc City.
Rescuers focused on searching for victims among the crowd. Dozens of medical workers and ambulances were stationed outside, ready to help.
At the same time, on Ton Duc Thang Street, a traffic collision between a car and two vehicles carrying chemical happened around 100 m away from the Nguyen Hue walking street, with four people trapped inside. The fuel and the chemical leaked out and caught fire.
Robots and other machines also prevented the flames from spreading to nearby neighborhoods and buildings.
