Sixth-grade student killed in fire at Hanoi school

The victim who died in a fire at Hanoi's Kim Lien Secondary School on Thursday was a sixth-grade student at the school.

Relatives and neighbors visited the boy's family home off Ngoc Hoi Street in Yen So Ward on Friday morning to offer condolences. His funeral is scheduled for Saturday.

The boy and his older sister both attended Kim Lien Secondary School, about 7 km from their home. His sister is in ninth grade and attends morning classes, while he attended afternoon classes. Their father drove him to and from school every day.

An ambulance arrives to transport the victim's body after the fire. Photo by VnExpress/Pham Chieu

The fire broke out at 12:18 p.m. Thursday in a sixth-grade classroom block at the school's temporary campus on Hoang Tich Tri Street in Kim Lien Ward.

The single-story building covered about 400 square meters and was constructed from corrugated metal sheets with foam panels for soundproofing and insulation.

Police dispatched seven fire engines, a command vehicle and firefighters to the scene. The blaze was largely contained by 12:40 p.m. and fully extinguished by 1 p.m.

During search and rescue operations, officers discovered one person dead and handed the body over to medical personnel.

The Kim Lien Ward People's Committee has instructed the school to switch to online learning to minimize disruption.

The temporary campus will remain closed while authorities seek a safer location for nearly 3,000 students across 31 classes.