By Joe Fotalatte
This morning on January 18th, many workers and customers were crushed beneath a sudden collapse of the ceiling of the Circle K store in Ward 4, District 4.
The first person was removed from the scene at 9:45 am, and the victim’s body bore numerous wounds was unresponsive.
“I heard a loud bang while I was inside the house. Some people shouted for help loudly, but nobody could get in because the door was blocked by goods”, neighbor Ms. Huong told VnExpress.
The shop has reportedly been closed for a few days for repairs, it has recently started up again.
It is impossible to estimate the precise number of victims trapped inside, according to Colonel Huynh Quang Tam, Head of the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Department of the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department.
According to Colonel Tam, the first victim was a female. “The rescue force is pumping oxygen into the scene and dismantling steel structures, loading and unloading goods to take the victims out.”
Steel frames and heavy objects threw 9th graders to the ground.
The store overstocked Tet goods, causing an overload that caused the iron floor to collapse, according to Major Hung Nguyen Thuan, deputy head of the rescue team.
Four of the store’s eight ground-floor employees working at the cashier counter were able to flee when the incident occurred.
Major Thuan stated that reaching the victims required the use of numerous bracing devices because the steel structure of the floor had changed and large objects had blocked the entrances. The rescue operations are ongoing.