Around noon on Thursday, she was dropped off by her mother at the school’s temporary campus on Hoang Tich Tri Street in Kim Lien Ward.

She arrived early to prepare for the literature exam in the afternoon.

The school has nearly 3,000 students in 61 classes.

As its permanent campus on Luong Dinh Cua Street is being rebuilt, it moved at the start of the 2026-27 school year to a temporary location on Hoang Tich Tri Street, 500 m away.

After studying for about 15 minutes, Vy heard an explosion and smelled something burning. Before she could process what was happening, she heard the shouted warnings.

She quickly opened her backpack, swept all the books and belongings from her desk into it, and dragged a friend out, running out of the classroom.

Outside, she saw thick black smoke billowing from a classroom in the sixth-grade building. It gradually spread over the parking area, just several dozen meters from where she was standing.

Students poured out of their classrooms into the yard and headed toward the main gate and the yard of another primary school next door as their teachers shouted instructions.

Vy said: "We were pushing and squeezing past one another, shouting ‘hurry up’ as we ran. Many students even fell."

She went straight to a friend's house near the school and informed her mother.

Many of her friends had been playing in the schoolyard when they heard the fire warning and fled. The entire evacuation lasted about five minutes.

Although she made it home safely, Vy said she was still shaken by the incident, adding that she had never experienced such panic before.

 

 

Students recount moments of panic as fire engulfs Hanoi school, killing one

Hàng trăm học sinh sơ tán khi cháy phòng học tạm tại Hà Nội

Kim Lien students attend classes in two shifts, grades eight and nine in the morning and grades six and seven in the afternoon.

The fire broke out at around 12:15 p.m. just after the morning session ended at 11:45 a.m., though many students stayed back for other activities.

The afternoon-shift students were preparing for classes, which start at 12:30 p.m.

Manh was among those who had stayed behind after the morning session. He was chatting with friends when he heard a loud explosion. Some students rushed out, shouting there was a fire.

He ran back to his classroom to look for his friends and saw black embers floating outside the door. After quickly brushing the particles off his trousers, he urged his classmates to "run outside quickly."

Meanwhile, a parent on Hoang Tich Tri Street said the smoke spread quickly, billowing through gaps in the metal sheets in the roof and filling the area with a strong burning smell.

She also heard several popping sounds, similar to explosions from the outdoor units of air conditioners.

As thick black smoke rose high into the air, spreading to neighboring Phuong Mai Kindergarten and Hoang Tich Tri Street, parents rushed to Kim Lien Secondary School's temporary campus after hearing about the fire to look for their children.

Students of Kim Lien Secondary School are gathered at Kim Lien A Primary School playground to wait for their parents following the fire on Nov. 5, 2026. Photo by VnExpress/Pham Chieu

Linh, who has a child in seventh grade there, was working two kilometers away when she heard about the fire and rushed to the scene.

Though she did not have much trouble finding her child, since the two have a fixed meeting point for pickups, she said the chaotic scene left her frightened and trembling in the legs and almost in tears.

"I only breathed a sigh of relief when I saw my child was safe. Both the children and their parents were extremely stressed. Many students said they had only managed to run out without taking anything with them."

Seven fire engines, a command vehicle, and more than 60 firefighters were dispatched to tackle the blaze.

Firefighters arrived at the scene within four minutes after the blaze broke out, and determined that people were trapped inside.

They began spraying water, searching for those trapped, and preventing the fire from spreading.

By 12:40 p.m., the fire was largely under control and was completely extinguished by 1 p.m.

Desks, chairs, and equipment in the sixth-grade building were charred.

The metal-sheet roof and surrounding walls were warped and turned silver. Dozens of outdoor air-conditioning units remained on the roof, covered in soot.

Behind the classroom building, dozens of bicycles were reduced to bare frames. Two neighboring classroom blocks also sustained partial fire damage.

During search and rescue operations, police found one person dead and handed the body over to medical authorities.

The victim was later identified as a sixth-grade male student.

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.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

The corrugated iron roof of classrooms at the temporary campus of Kim Lien Secondary School is deformed after the fire. Photo by VnExpress/Tien Thanh

Hanoi Vice Chairman Do Anh Tuan has ordered relevant authorities to address the aftermath and investigate the cause.

The Department of Education and Training instructed schools under construction or renovation and those using temporary premises to review safety conditions and strictly refrain from holding classes in unsafe locations.

Schools with construction sites on their premises must install barriers, arrange separate walkways and prevent students from accessing construction areas.

They were also told to conduct on-site inspections of fire prevention and firefighting facilities and ensure they could respond effectively to emergencies. School principals will be held responsible for incidents resulting from negligence.