The shop on Bui Van Ba Street in Tan Thuan Ward in the city’s south, blew up at around 10:30 a.m. and caved in. The blast brought down two houses and cracked the walls and broke the tile and corrugated-iron roofs of five others.
The T-shaped gas shop, covering about 100 square meters, collapsed completely, while a fruit shop of about 50-60 square meters next door tilted to one side.
Steel frames and large slabs of concrete cracked and fell on some of the people inside.
One of the dead victims was a 55-year-old employee of the gas shop, found under the debris after nearly seven hours of search.
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Aerial view of the damage following a gas shop explosion in HCMC on Nov. 13, 2026. Photo by Minh Hoang |
Thanh Tan, who lives near the scene, said the blast was very loud, and after the gas shop came down, two injured people covered in dust crawled out through a gap in the rubble.
“About five injured people were lifted out by police,” he said.
The gas shop had operated for nearly 10 years in a row of adjoining shops fronting Bui Van Ba Street, surrounded by eateries. The stalls stood close together, with awnings and tarps stretched to the edge of the road, and multi-story houses were packed in behind the low-rise row.
Hoang Long, who lives one house away from the blast site, said he was indoors when he heard a loud explosion that shook everything around him.
He rushed outside to find part of his house sheared off and collapsed, while the two houses beside it had collapsed completely. His family shouted for help and ran out. No one in the family was hurt, but many of their belongings were damaged.
“Everyone is in a panic,” Long said.
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Rescuers search for victims a gas shop explosion in HCMC on Nov. 13, 2026. Photo by Dinh Van |
The explosion affected houses within a radius of about 100 m. The two houses that collapsed were the gas shop and a watch repair shop, and their fallen walls piled up into a mound about 10 m high.
Twisted sheets of corrugated iron lay scattered across the site, and gas cylinders of 12-20 kg were strewn beside the walls amid shattered bricks.
More than 30 police officers and two cranes were deployed to dismantle the structure and move large concrete slabs in search of people trapped inside, including the gas shop’s owner, who was believed to be trapped at the back of the collapsed house.
Vibrations from the blast shattered windows and dislodged ceiling panels in several homes.
Hung, who lives 50 m from the gas shop, said the explosion was very loud and was followed by a thick cloud of dust.
“Inside my house, I felt the walls and windows shake, and the ceiling was damaged, with some panels falling to the floor,” he said.
People drive past the site where houses collapsed following a gas shop explosion in HCMC on Nov. 13, 2026. Video courtesy of a local resident
Residents living near the scene said the gas shop often refilled mini gas canisters.
Pham Hong Loc, chairman of the Tan Thuan Ward People’s Committee, said local authorities were focusing on handling the incident. More than 10 fire trucks and ambulances were sent to the scene, and about 1 km of Bui Van Ba Street was cordoned off for the rescue.
The blast flung concrete chunks and roller shutters onto the street, and several motorbikes were crushed by walls and steel frames from the collapsed house.
At 12:30 p.m., searchers found a person trapped in the rubble, and medical staff and ambulances were sent in to give emergency treatment.
At around 12:50 p.m., rescuers pulled out a man who had been trapped in the watch repair shop, with burns to his face and multiple injuries. Two more victims, a man and a woman, were then rescued from the collapsed house.
An aerial view of the ruins following a gas shop explosion in HCMC on Nov. 13, 2026. Video by Read
Col. Tran Hong Minh, deputy director of the HCMC Police Department, came to the scene to direct the rescue. At 1 p.m., as the search went on, two loud, bomb-like blasts went off in quick succession, shaking the area and alarming many people. More than 20 firefighters kept digging, using specialized equipment to clear the rubble in search of anyone still trapped.
Dr. Nguyen Duy Long, director of the HCMC 115 Emergency Center, said teams from five satellite emergency stations at hospitals had been sent to the scene.
By then, emergency crews had received and took six victims to hospitals for treatment.
None was in critical condition at that point, and the center kept three medical teams at the scene because people were believed to still be trapped.
Col. Tran Trung Hieu, head of the Fire Prevention and Fighting Police Division of the HCMC Police, came to the scene to direct the search and rescue. Rescuers raced to move large concrete slabs blocking the way into the collapsing house and to dismantle structures, clearing a path to search for people buried in the rubble.
At around 2:20 p.m., rescuers brought more excavators into the area. The search for victims ended shortly before 3 p.m.