"Our coach exploded on dream Vietnam trip - we lost everything and nearly died"
- 8 months ago
A couple backpacking in Vietnam lost everything when their coach exploded - and say they are lucky to be alive.
Lydia Prior, 31, and boyfriend Dan Chambers, 32, were travelling from Ho Chi Minh City to Mũi Né when disaster struck.
Lydia noticed something was wrong two hours in to the four-hour journey and started screaming "like a mad woman".
Other passengers ignored her at first but, when the back tyres on the bus blew out, everyone evacuated.
Lydia and Dan say the vehicle then went up in flames just seconds after they got off - incinerating all their possessions.
The pair are thankful to be alive but are now more than £1,500 out of pocket.
Ex-HR worker Lydia, from Hemel Hempstead, Herts., said: "Ten minutes before I got a weird gut feeling to open my curtain - and a few minutes later there was a fire.
"I honestly turned into a mad woman. I started shouting, 'Fire, fire, f*cking fire' - but nobody else saw it and wasn't moving.
"Nobody else spoke English so I don't think they understood what I was saying.
"People were not reacting quickly enough which made me more angry - I was pushing people out of the way.
"Within six to 10 seconds of getting off the coach went up in flames. We're lucky to be alive."
Lydia and Dan have been backpacking around Asia since April 2023.
So far, their travels have taken them to Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and now Vietnam where they are planning to spend four weeks.
Three days into their stay, the couple got a four-hour coach journey from from Ho Chi Minh City to Mũi Né - costing them £19.51 for both.
Dan, a gas engineer, from Kings Langley, Herts., said he could smell petrol on the journey but ignored it initially.
He said: "We were driving and we heard a bang, which made the coach start to veer off.
"We didn't think anything of it but then we heard another loud bang and the whole back of the coach dropped.
"We quickly grabbed what we could and saw the flame coming out of Lydia's window and ran to the front of the coach.
"Within about 10 seconds the whole coach went up in smoke."
Lydia said she has never been more scared and thought she was going to die.
She said: "At one point I genuinely thought that was the end.
"Once we got off the bus we just ran, there was thick black smoke filling the air - it changed the colour of the sky.
"We were running away in bare feet as fast as we would along the motorway.
"We lost all our stuff, we have lost £1,600 worth of stuff between us - we have nothing left.
"We have our phones and passports with us - luckily we grabbed our bags with the more important stuff in."
The couple had planned to stay in Vietnam for four more weeks but are now unsure after what they have been through.
Lydia said: "We are 100% lucky to be alive. Time stood still for us, so many people were blocking my way off the coach.
"That is why I was screaming to get them out of the way.
"Lucky there were no casualties."
Lydia Prior, 31, and boyfriend Dan Chambers, 32, were travelling from Ho Chi Minh City to Mũi Né when disaster struck.
Lydia noticed something was wrong two hours in to the four-hour journey and started screaming "like a mad woman".
Other passengers ignored her at first but, when the back tyres on the bus blew out, everyone evacuated.
Lydia and Dan say the vehicle then went up in flames just seconds after they got off - incinerating all their possessions.
The pair are thankful to be alive but are now more than £1,500 out of pocket.
Ex-HR worker Lydia, from Hemel Hempstead, Herts., said: "Ten minutes before I got a weird gut feeling to open my curtain - and a few minutes later there was a fire.
"I honestly turned into a mad woman. I started shouting, 'Fire, fire, f*cking fire' - but nobody else saw it and wasn't moving.
"Nobody else spoke English so I don't think they understood what I was saying.
"People were not reacting quickly enough which made me more angry - I was pushing people out of the way.
"Within six to 10 seconds of getting off the coach went up in flames. We're lucky to be alive."
Lydia and Dan have been backpacking around Asia since April 2023.
So far, their travels have taken them to Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and now Vietnam where they are planning to spend four weeks.
Three days into their stay, the couple got a four-hour coach journey from from Ho Chi Minh City to Mũi Né - costing them £19.51 for both.
Dan, a gas engineer, from Kings Langley, Herts., said he could smell petrol on the journey but ignored it initially.
He said: "We were driving and we heard a bang, which made the coach start to veer off.
"We didn't think anything of it but then we heard another loud bang and the whole back of the coach dropped.
"We quickly grabbed what we could and saw the flame coming out of Lydia's window and ran to the front of the coach.
"Within about 10 seconds the whole coach went up in smoke."
Lydia said she has never been more scared and thought she was going to die.
She said: "At one point I genuinely thought that was the end.
"Once we got off the bus we just ran, there was thick black smoke filling the air - it changed the colour of the sky.
"We were running away in bare feet as fast as we would along the motorway.
"We lost all our stuff, we have lost £1,600 worth of stuff between us - we have nothing left.
"We have our phones and passports with us - luckily we grabbed our bags with the more important stuff in."
The couple had planned to stay in Vietnam for four more weeks but are now unsure after what they have been through.
Lydia said: "We are 100% lucky to be alive. Time stood still for us, so many people were blocking my way off the coach.
"That is why I was screaming to get them out of the way.
"Lucky there were no casualties."