Parents fail to save children sleeping in burning room

The shop caught fire at around 1 a.m. The first erupted quickly followed by several blasts, prompting neighbors to rush over and bang on the door.

Pham Thanh Hung, 42, woke up his wife and then rushed to the room of their children, an 11-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl.

However, the room was locked from the inside and the parents could not figure out how to get the children out safely, and so they ran outside to call for help.

Six fire trucks were dispatched to the scene along with several dozen fire fighters, but due to strong winds and many flammable items inside the building, the fire grew stronger. It took about three hours for the firefighters to put out the fire.

The two children were later found dead in their room.

The fire destroyed the entire store, causing a loss of billions of dong (VND1 billion=$42,280).

The cause of the fire remains unknown.