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  • Ooh, that was close....

    Had a close miss with some form of 'explosion' here in Saigon last night. The layout of Saigon won't mean much to many of you I know but I'll explain anyway.

    I walked from the Sheraton to an Indian Restaurant on Hai Ba Trung called Tandoor. This meant leaving the side entrance of the Sheraton on Dong Khoi St, turn right past Mojo cafe and right at the corner to go past the front of the Caravelle Hotel. You then have a couple of options to get across to Tandoor which is diagonally across the square were all the taxis park in front of the Hyatt.

    Shortly after 9.30pm I was then sat in Tandoor at a table on ground level right next to the huge window when there was an almighty BANG !!!!...followed by all the huge plate glass windows in Tandoor shaking like hell. I looked out and saw a mass of smoke coming from the entance of the Caravelle Hotel. People in the square in front of the Hyatt were running around, all the Hyatt staff were out and there was general panic and chaos. Minutes later all the Police and Ambulances start arriving.

    By this point, people were saying it was a bomb, and it certainly did sound, look and feel like one, especially with the shockwaves carrying all the way over to Tandoor and shaking the windows. I settled my bill and walked up a few doors to O'Briens where I was meeting friends to watch the football at 10pm. One of the guys in there is an ex Northern Ireland Policeman, who was walking nearby and heard it and said it sounded like a bomb, and he's heard a few over the years !!.

    An hour or so later we walked past going to another bar and the area around the Caravelle was all cordoned off and the front was an absolute mess. There was debris all over the floor, right where I had walked around 10 minutes before it happened.

    In the next couple of bars the bush telegraph was full of conflicting reports, theories and ideas, the most elaborate of which was a terrorist attack. I wasn't having this, not in Vietnam. I know those f*ckwits could attack anywhere, but it would be pointless here and there is not enough 'western value', for want of a better desciption. Later reports suggested some form of gas explosion, which seems much more plausible to me. It was quite big whatever it was, and the girls in the lounge at the Sheraton have told me they have got guests from the Caravelle checking in here today.

    There is nothing on any news channels about it, (although being a communist country that's not surprising - I nearly got nicked trying to take a picture last night ) so it can't have been too serious after all. I am moving to the Hyatt shortly so I will see what it's like there now.

    Just glad I went past when I did rather than ten minutes later. Good old Premier League Football kick-off times eh.
    Last edited by MAN Flyer; 7 December 2008, 09:38 PM.

  • #2
    That must be a scary experience... Glad you are safe!

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    • #3
      OMG... that was close! Glad you're okay!

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      • #4
        WOW that was a close call- glad to hear that you re OK.

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        • #5
          Good to hear you are safe, MAN Flyer.

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          • #6
            Yikes, echo the sentiments. I used to visit HCMC at least once a month for a week a time, so am quite familiar with the places you mentioned.

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            • #7
              Yikes! I'm glad you're safe and sound mate.
              All opinions shared are my own, and are not necessarily those of my employer or any other organisation of which I'm affiliated to.

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              • #8
                Ditto with the others. Glad you're safe, bro.
                HUGE AL

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                • #9
                  Thanks folks!.

                  Of course, there is not a lot of official information out about what happened. The official replies range from 'something collapsed', 'still investigating' etc through to 'there is no problem Shir'

                  They have covered up the damaged areas with large sheets and opened more or less everything up again, except the staff entrance which is blocked off. It managed to spook a few guests enough that they have checked out of the Caravelle and gone elsewhere.

                  There is a piece on a local Vietnamese website about it apparently (nothing much on the English language ones, funnily enough...) that say people drinking in Dong Du St (around the back and where the Sheraton's main entrance actually is), heard/felt it and came onto the street.

                  Oh well, never a dull moment on a Saturday night in Saigon...

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                  • #10
                    Glad you're okay MAN Flyer. Even when you know you are safe it can be unnerving.
                    ..

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                    • #11
                      Wow! Glad you're OK mate. I can picture where in SGN this all took place.

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                      • #12
                        Glad you're OK.

                        The explosion hasn't been reported on the news networks. I looked.

                        However, I wonder if it is related to an article in the International Herald Tribune today p3.

                        Headline: "8 Vietnamese Catholics guilty of disorder charges"

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                        • #13
                          Just found some articles online about this..

                          Police investigate hotel ceiling collapse
                          http://www.thanhniennews.com/society...3&newsid=44394

                          Ceiling of five-star hotel’s hall tumbles
                          http://english.vietnamnet.vn/social/2008/12/817479/

                          http://www.thanhniennews.com/society...3&newsid=44394
                          Police from Ho Chi Minh City and the Ministry of Public Security are investigating the collapse of part of the ceiling of the Caravelle Hotel late on Friday night.

                          Two people were injured when 300 square meters of gypsum ceiling fell in the lobby of the downtown five-star hotel.
                          One of the injured was a 35-year-old hotel employee, who is being treated for severe injuries at HCMC’s Cho Ray Hospital. The identity of the other injured person was not disclosed.

                          According to a policeman from the municipal police department, there was no evidence the collapse was caused by an explosion. Police have excluded sabotage from possible causes, the official said, and there was no sign of a gas leak.

                          At a briefing with the press Sunday, deputy head of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Tai said a sound which resembled an explosion when the ceiling collapsed came from construction in the hotel’s basement. He did not give further details.

                          Meanwhile, an external affairs employee of the hotel, who did not wish to be named, said there was no sound of an explosion.

                          The unnamed employee said the collapse had occurred at the hotel’s rubbish collection area.

                          As of Sunday morning, all the hotel’s activities had returned to normal, with the damaged areas enclosed by barriers.

                          Investigators from the ministry and the municipal police department are protecting the scene.

                          The hotel management will hold a press briefing later this week to release official information about the cause of the collapse.
                          matt_will_fix_it

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                          • #14
                            Caravelle finally comment on it

                            I knew it was an explosion....it shook the bl**dy windows next to me, 400 yards away !!!!

                            Authorities in Ho Chi Minh have determined that a build-up of methane gas in an empty cavity beneath a car park driveway was responsible for an explosion at the Caravelle Hotel on Saturday evening.

                            The hotel has reported that while none of the hotel’s guests were affected by the accident, one employee was hospitalized with minor injuries.

                            “Fortunately, the damage was confined to the driveway,” said John Gardner, General Manager of the hotel. “The car park driveway will be closed for about a week for repairs. Otherwise, the hotel is 100% operational, the guests are fine and it is business as usual.”

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                            • #15
                              Something like this has happened in one of the major malls in Manila. Explosion -- then suspicion of terrorism -- then poor physical plant maintenance found to have contributed to gas leaks.

                              Glad you're OK (and unfazed at all ), MAN Flyer.
                              ‘Lean into the sharp points’

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