HANOI: A three-year-old boy, who was put into a freezer after a man tried to strangle him with a shoelace, was rescued in the nick of time by family and neighbours.
The boy is believed to have been in the freezer for more than an hour and was barely alive when he was found after a frantic search was mounted.
According to the Vn Express, the incident took place in Ha Nam Province on Saturday afternoon and police have already detained a suspect.
The boy is suffering from respiratory failure, hypothermia and also has injuries in the head, face and neck. Nicknamed Min, he is now being treated at the National Children's Hospital in Hanoi.
Doctors said the boy's physical injuries, haemorrhage and inflammation on the head, face, neck and tongue, was making it difficult for him to eat but his condition has now stabilised.
Ngo Minh Toan, chairman of the Nhan Chinh Commune People's Committee, said the incident happened in Thuong Vi Village and the suspect was a neighbour who had rented a house to sell iced tea.
The boy's grandfather Nguyen Van Thuoc told the Vn Express that he had returned home early from a meeting, only to find his grandson missing.
"You should be good and play with your mother. I will come back soon," 65-year-old Thuoc had told Min before leaving for the meeting at about 2pm.
It was around 5pm when Thuoc returned, but could not find Min. He then went to his son's house and that of six other neighbours', but his grandson wasn't there either.
Feeling that something had gone wrong, Thuoc roped his family members and neighbours to search for Min and was even afraid that the boy had been kidnaped.
At the same time, Thuoc's son checked CCTV footage and it showed that at 3.20 pm, Min had entered the milk tea shop next door, but did not come out.
But at 4.15pm, the 25-year-old store owner closed the shop and left on his motorcycle.
The family then rushed to the milk tea shop but found it locked and called the man. He denied Min was in the shop and did not answer further calls.
The Vn Express report said Thuoc then grabbed a saw and a hammer and called on some neighbours for help to cut open the locks and smashed the glass door.
They searched the place but could not find him at first.
He told five others to continue the search inside the house while he went outside to look around. Many from the neighbourhood had already gathered there and were also searching for him there.
Another neighbour, Dang Trung Thin, then shouted that the boy had been found.
Relating how he found the boy, the 27-year-old Thin said he checked a freezer but did not see Min.
As he was stepping back, he had a gut feeling that told him to check the freezer again.
He then noticed a carton box in it with a bag of ice on top. As he tried to carry it, the box tore and two little legs popped out. It was 5.50pm then.
He found Min laying motionless and shrivelled. There was also a white shoelace wrapped around his neck.
"I took him outside and felt that his heart was still beating. But he was freezing cold," Thin said.
"If I'd been just a little slower or not reopened the freezer, who knows what would have happened. But for now, everything is fine," recalled Thin.
Min was rushed to a nearby clinic, then to a local hospital and finally to Hanoi.
He said Min often hung around near his home or at other neighbours' houses, but never at this man's house.
Thuoc said he was still in disbelief that his grandson was almost strangled and then stashed in a freezer in his own house by a tenant.
Ha Nam police have detained the neighbour, reportedly a decommissioned soldier, and he is said to have confessed to his crime.
The Vn Express reports that he allegedly told the police that he was angered when the boy insisted that he play with him. He then hit Min on the head with a ball and when the boy started crying and shouting out for his grandpa, Giang pinned the boy down and used his shoelace to strangle him.
He then put the boy in the box and placed it in the freezer, closed the shop and left for Hanoi.