A worrying phenomenon has recently emerged in Ho Chi Minh City where some youths have used home-made petrol bombs to attack rivals or settle personal conflicts
Criminals become younger, more brutal in Vietnam
Sociologists blame society for youth crimes
In late August, 9th grader Tran Ngoc Sang at the Trung An Junior High School in Ho Chi Minh City’s rural Cu Chi District, set off a home-made petrol bomb and threw it into a classroom. Flames shot high into the air, turning all students into panic. Two 14-year-old schoolgirls were seriously injured while four others sustained minor burns from the incident.
After more than 10 days of medical treatment, Yen Nhi could talk but her classmate Thuy Tien still lay motionless in bed, covered in bandages from her neck to her legs.
According to Dr. Tran Bich Thuy of the Burns & Orthopedic Unit of Pediatric Hospital 1, Yen Nhi suffered 14% of bodily burn on the back while Thuy Tien sustained 30% of burn on her back and hands, which need many surgeries to remove the damaged skin before skin grafting can be applied.
“A yellowish mucin is seen everywhere on her skin. Her ears are swollen and one side of her face also suffered burn injuries,” said Mrs. Thu Thao, Thuy Tien’s mother.
“She’s a well-behaved student. She told me if she hadn’t happened to turn around to talk with her friend at the time, her eyes might have gone blind from the attack,” sobbed Ngoc Suong, Yen Nhi’s mother.
According to Tran Van Lam, Head of the Social Crime Investigation Police Department in Cu Chi District, Ngoc Sang learned how to make a petrol bomb from the Internet and then bought silk-cotton, gasoline, and a glass bottle to create the bomb.
Sang told the police he had an argument with a schoolmate and carried out the attack to vent his anger.
Mr. Le Hung Sen, Manager of Training and Education Department in Cu Chi District, said the attack appalled him, adding that it was the first bomb attack ever linked to a personal conflict between students in the locality.
He said the department has instructed the school management board to visit and offer financial support to the victims’ families to help them with the hospital fees.
“The department will hold a meeting to discuss measures to ensure school safety,” Sen said.
Recently, two petrol bomb attacks took place in the northern port city of Hai Phong.
On September 5, an unknown assailant threw a home-made petrol bomb into the house of a local couple in An Trang Hamlet, Truong Son Town in An Lao District, scorching the iron gate but causing no casualties.
One day later, another petrol bomb attack at the main gate of Ho Hanh Phuc Park in Kien An District where a trade fair was taking place left Pham Van Le and his daughter Pham Phuong Linh from Da Phuc Ward in Duong Kinh District seriously burnt.
In the southern province of Ba Ria – Vung Tau, a group of people hurled a petrol bomb at the gas station Trung Thanh on September 2 after having an argument with one of the staff there. Fortunately, the staff used the fire extinguisher to put down the fire in time.
Earlier on August 23, Ms. Ngoc of Ho Chi Minh City’s District 10 was driving her car on a street in Loc Quang Commune in Binh Phuoc southern province when a group of gangsters suddenly broke the car window and threw in a petrol bomb to set the car on fire.
The driver and all the people inside opened the door and jumped out but the car, together with some assets inside, was burnt to the ground.
A deadly hobby
For some youths, throwing petrol bombs around is their hobby.
Nguyen Phi Hung, living in Tan Thoi Hiep Ward in District 12, along with his friends, finds pleasures in making petrol bombs and throwing them at female workers who are going home from work.
Huy, a leader of a group of youths with a similar hobby in Binh Hung Hoa Ward in HCMC’s Binh Tan District, said: “My friends and I do it every night. We once threw 4 or 5 petrol bombs on the streets just to scare the passers-by.”
“When you light it, it’s just a small torch. But when you throw the bottle and the glass breaks, there’s fire everywhere.”
To illustrate what he said, Huy set off a petrol bomb and threw it at a garbage dump.
There was the sound of glass breaking and immediately a big flame leaped up.
Youngsters often throw petrol bombs at Binh Hung Hoa cemetery or in the wastelands in Tan Phu District.
Hung admitted that petrol bombs are also often used in fights between groups of street racers.
Print
