Mini apartment fire kills 56 people: 8 defendants appeal together

All 8 defendants involved in the serious mini apartment fire on Khuong Ha Street (Khuong Dinh Ward, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi) that tragically kille.d 56 people have filed appeals, asking for a reduction in their sentences.

The case file and appeals have been transferred by the Hanoi People's Court to the Hanoi High People's Court to prepare for the appeal hearing, scheduled to take place on June 5, 2025.

The defendants all expressed their desire to review the first instance verdict, hoping for leniency from the law on the grounds that there were many mitigating circumstances. Among them, the most notable was defendant Nghiem Quang Minh, the owner of the building where the fire occurred, who was sentenced to 9 years and 6 months in prison for "Violating regulations on fire prevention and fightin.g" under Clause 3, Article 313 of the Penal Code.

Previously, from March 10 to 14, 2025, the Hanoi People's Court held a first-instance trial, attracting special attention from the public nationwide. The case not only raised an alarm about fire safety and management in densely populated residential areas, but also left behind great pai.n for dozens of families whose loved ones had passed away in the fire.

In the first instance verdict of the Hanoi People's Court regarding the mini apartment fire on Khuong Ha Street (Thanh Xuan District) that shocked public opinion, 7 defendants, former officials of Thanh Xuan District and Khuong Dinh Ward, were found guilty of "Lack of responsibility causing serious consequences", with different sentences, depending on their roles, responsibilities and level of violation.

Nguyen Dinh Quan, former Head of the Construction Inspection Team of Khuong Dinh Ward, was sentenced to 7 years in prison, the highest sentence in this group.

Chu Xuan Son, former Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Khuong Dinh Ward, was sentenced to 6 years in prison for failing to fully perform his state management responsibilities in the assigned field.

Two former Vice Chairmen of the People's Committee and Ward Police, Pham Tan Anh and Nguyen Tuan Anh, were both sentenced to 4 years in prison.

Tran Trong Khang, former Captain of the Thanh Xuan District Construction Inspection Team, was sentenced to 36 months in prison.

The two defendants with the lowest sentences (but still criminally prosecuted) were Nguyen Thi Kim Trang, a former civil servant in charge of land, construction, urban and environmental affairs, and Pham Thanh Tung, a former contract employee in charge of urban environmental affairs. Both received 30 months in prison.

The first-instance trial panel determined that the defendants had failed to inspect, supervise, and manage the entire process of the illegal construction and operation of the mini-apartment building. The indifference and negligence of these officials directly contributed to the particularly serious consequences: 56 people died in the fire on the night of September 12, 2023, one of the fires that caused the heaviest los.s o.f lif.e in many years in Vietnam.

According to the case file, Nghiem Quang Minh is the owner of a 240m² plot of land located at No. 37, Alley 29/70, Khuong Ha Street, Khuong Dinh Ward, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi.

In March 2015, Mr. Minh was granted a construction permit for a single-family home by the Thanh Xuan District People's Committee, with an approved design of 6 floors, plus a mezzanine and an elevator shaft, a total of 33 rooms, with a construction area of 167.4 square meters on the first floor, corresponding to a construction density of 70%.

However, immediately after being licensed, Mr. Minh arbitrarily changed the design, increasing the number of floors to 9 floors and 1 attic, which is 3 floors more than the licensed one. Not stopping there, the construction area of the first floor was also adjusted to increase by a total of 240m², occupying 100% of the land area, breaking all the original planning and technical standards.

The number of rooms in the building after the "transformation" also increased sharply from 33 rooms according to the original design to 45 closed apartments, an increase of 12 units. All apartments were put up for sale and were sold out by Mr. Minh from October 2015 to April 2016. By the end of 2016, the entire building had stable residents.

It is worth mentioning that, during the entire process of openly building without permission, no authorities of Khuong Dinh ward or Thanh Xuan district stepped in to inspect or handle the violations, even though the violations were obvious and prolonged. The building was too high, occupying the entire land area, but still "slipped through the management net" in a confusing way.

At the time of the catastrophic fire on the night of September 12, 2023, this building had 147 people living in 45 apartments. The disaster claimed the lives of 56 people, becoming one of the most serious fires causing los.s o.f lif.e in Hanoi in recent years.

After selling all 45 apartments, defendant Nghiem Quang Minh did not reside in the building and claimed that the right to manage and use the building belonged to the residents. The first floor was used as a parking lot for about 70-80 motorbikes and electric cars of the residents.

At around 11:20 p.m. on September 12, 2023, an electrical short circuit in the battery area on the first floor caused a fire, which quickly spread to the cables and electricity meter system. By 0:15 a.m. on September 13, the fire was under control.

The fire resulted in 56 deaths, 44 injuries, and property damage of more than 3.2 billion VND, making it one of the most serious fire disasters in Hanoi.

Discovered something strange in a mini apartment fire: There were 4 fire extinguishers but only 1 was used, why? Kim Lâm11:46:35 21/09/2023According to a notice from Hanoi Police, among the 4 fire extinguishers sent for inspection, 3 were unused and 1 was used. So the reason why not use the remaining 3 fire extinguishers is also a question that many people wonder about.