A Hanoi woman and her two grandchildren were killed after they were unable to get out of their locked house when it caught fire on early Sunday morning.

The flames broke out at around 5:00 am at the house located in an alley on Nguyen Chinh Street in Thinh Liet Ward, Hoang Mai District, according to a ward official.

Preliminary information showed that the fire first engulfed the first floor of the residence before quickly spreading to other floors.

Phung Thi Kim Tan, 60, and her two grandchildren, eight-year-old Trinh Thi Dung and nine-year-old Ha Anh Vu, were sleeping inside the house at the time of the incident.

They tried to get out of the place and screamed for help, but neighbors were unable to save them as the doors were too securely locked.

“We tried as many ways as possible to help them,” said Tran Huu Anh, a local resident.

“I was using a hammer to penetrate the house from the next-door residence, while someone else grabbed a ladder in an attempt to get them out from the upper floors.

“But the blaze spread too fast.” 

It was already too late for the victims when firefighting officers arrived at the location.

Their bodies were eventually found in the attic.

An investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the fire.

According to local authorities, Tan lived by herself at the house, while her two grandchildren lived with their parents at another house in Hanoi.

The kids were visiting their grandmother and spending the night at her place when the fire broke out.

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