The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee has announced a plan to conduct a fire drill involving 2,400 participants and 159 vehicles at the underground Ben Thanh Station of the city’s nearly finished first metro line project on December 28.

In a hypothetical scenario, the underground Ben Thanh Station experiences a fire, resulting in a power outage and the halting of two trains near the platform area.

Train T1 running between Suoi Tien Station and Ben Thanh Station faces a malfunction with its automatic door, leaving 300 passengers trapped, including 30 who fainted.

During the emergency, some passengers and employees on the B2 basement of Ben Thanh Station panick and rush to an elevator, attempting to evacuate.

However, the elevator abruptly stop working, trapping approximately 10 individuals inside.

The situation inside the station grows chaotic, with limited air supply leading to oxygen depletion, causing breathing difficulties and resulting in 44 people fainting and requiring assistance.

At a B1 basement kiosk, a group of workers hastily evacuate, leaving behind welding and cutting equipment still in operation with high temperatures, triggering a large fire hazard capable of causing explosions and collapsing works.

The incident results in around 50 injuries due to the commotion, stampeding, and people being trapped as construction components in B2 and B1 basements collapse.

The indoor fire suppression and automatic fire extinguishing systems are rendered inoperative due to the power outage.

Although the local firefighting brigade is on-site, they fail to respond promptly.

As a result, the fire rapidly escalates and spreads throughout the entire B1 basement, causing contamination with smoke and toxic gases.

The list of guests expected to oversee the fire drill in December includes Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

As of now, the No. 1 metro line, which stretches from Ben Thanh Market in District 1 to Suoi Tien Theme Park in Thu Duc City, has achieved a completion rate of 96 percent.

Construction and equipment installation activities are set to be largely finished this year, with commercial operations of the route anticipated for July 2024.

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