Teen girl jumps 10 m to survive HCMC restaurant fire that killed 4

From her hospital bed at Gia Dinh Hospital, the survivor, identified as Ngoc Khue, recounted the desperate moments she fled the fire at the Ba Tam hotpot and seafood restaurant on Tran Hung Dao Street, Cau Ong Lanh Ward, less than 1 km from Ben Thanh Market.

“When I woke up, I saw pitch-black smoke everywhere and the whole bedroom was scorching hot,” Khue said, still shaken.

Trapped in the inferno

The fire, which erupted around 4:00 a.m. on Friday, quickly engulfed the ground floor. The four-story building used the first two floors for the kitchen and dining area, while the upper two served as sleeping quarters for the owner, 40-year-old Dinh Thi Khanh Huyen, her family, and staff members and guests.

At the time the fire broke out, there were nine people inside the restaurant: the owner, her husband, and their two children, aged two and seven; four staff members (three women and one man); and one woman who was visiting a female staff member overnight.

Khue, who had been working at the snail restaurant for two months, was sleeping with two other female staff members on the third floor.

Awakened by a burning smell during a power outage, they opened their door only to be met by thick smoke and raging flames rising up the stairs from the ground floor kitchen, eliminating their only internal escape route.

The three retreated to a back window. As smoke rapidly filled the space, they climbed onto the outdoor air-conditioning unit to call for help. After more than 10 perilous minutes, with the heat intensifying and their skin starting to burn, Khue and another staff threw a teddy bear down to soften their fall and jumped onto an area with potted plants and garbage bags.

The remaining woman managed to climb onto the metal bars of a neighboring house and was rescued by firefighters.

The teddy bear lies on the area where Khue jumps down. Photo by Read/Dinh Van

Rescue and fatalities

According to Hue Co, a resident facing the back of the restaurant, she first heard small popping sounds before the fire spread. Seeing the women calling for help, she and neighbors attempted to assist with a metal beam, but it was not tall enough.

“Two of them jumped onto the area where the stuffed toy and flower pots were. Their skin was covered in black soot,” Co said.

The Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Station, located just 800 meters away, received the alarm at 4:37 a.m. and deployed nine fire trucks, a 56-meter ladder truck, and 50 firefighters within minutes.

Rescuers faced immediate difficulties: the house had only one exit through the front rolling door, which was shut and had to be broken open. Large quantities of household items and business supplies fueled the blaze, generating heavy smoke and toxic fumes that made searching for trapped individuals extremely challenging.

Firefighters successfully rescued the owner’s husband, the male staff member, and the female staff member who had climbed to the neighboring house. The two staff members who jumped into the backyard, including Khue, were injured.

Tragically, they discovered four people who had died of smoke inhalation during the search: the restaurant owner and her two children, and the 35-year-old visiting female friend.

The remaining of the room where the restaurant’s owner and her children were sleeping. Photo by Read/Dinh Van

Investigation and safety concerns

The fire originated in the roughly 20 square-meter kitchen area on the ground floor and spread upward through the house, which had a total floor area of 352 square meters. The blaze was fully extinguished at 6:15 a.m.

The building presented significant safety hazards: the house frontage was only four meters wide, narrowing to 2.5 meters at the back, and the rooftop had a sealed ventilation opening. The ground floor had a solid rolling door, and the business area contained many flammable items.

Khue is one of two burn victims currently being treated in the emergency ward at Gia Dinh Hospital. Hospital Director Nguyen Hoang Hai said both suffered airway burns and required bronchoscopy to assess the extent of injury before treatment planning.

Later on Friday, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh ordered Ho Chi Minh City authorities to urgently investigate the cause of the fire, strictly handle any violations, and promptly support the victims’ families.