An Phu karaoke case: Female defendant cries saying she was wronged, bar owner confident about one thing

On the morning of October 25, Binh Duong Provincial People's Court continued the second day of trial for 6 defendants related to the An Phu karaoke fire that killed 32 people, which occurred on September 6, 2022 in An Phu ward, Thuan An city.

At the end of the questioning session, the panel of judges allowed the defendants to comment on the compensation request of the relatives of the deceased in the An Phu karaoke fire.

Among the 6 defendants, 3 defendants provided initial support to the deceased, including: Le Anh Xuan (Owner of An Phu karaoke bar), Vu Truong Son (former officer of the Fire Prevention and Rescue Department) and Nguyen Thanh Luan (Director of Thai Binh Anh LLC).

At court on October 25, defendant Pham Thi Hong (former Deputy Captain of the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Department) burst into tears when she spoke.

Defendant Hong said that he was willing to support the family of the deceased but would not compensate because he was innocent. Defendant Hong said that he was wrongly accused and therefore had no responsibility to compensate.

"The fire that killed 32 people was very heartbreaking. In terms of human relations, human love, the defendant is willing to support their families. But the defendant does not compensate, because the defendant was wronged, the defendant is not guilty, so he has no responsibility to compensate," said defendant Hong.

Previously, in the trial on October 24, defendant Le Anh Xuan - the owner of the shop was very confident about the fire prevention and fighting system (PCCC) of An Phu karaoke because the shop was invested in the best equipment.

Mr. Le Anh Xuan said that on the day of the fire, he was at home (in Thu Duc City) watching TV. Afterwards, the defendant's wife cried and informed him that the An Phu karaoke bar was on fire.

Mr. Xuan said that upon receiving the news, the defendant immediately moved from his house to the restaurant. When he arrived, he saw employees running to put out the fire and reported it to the authorities. Rescue work continued, and at 5 a.m. the next morning, the fire continued to flare up. After a day of fighting the fire, the result was 32 people died and 3 people were injured.

According to Mr. Xuan, the defendant's father was the person who contacted the construction unit and the person responsible for preparing the operating license documents. The defendant said that he was not related to or acquainted with Pham Thi Hong, former Deputy Captain of the General Team of the Fire Prevention and Rescue Guidance and Command Department of the Binh Duong Provincial Fire Prevention and Fighting Police.

"The defendant's father was in charge of when the establishment started accepting customers. In 2019, the defendant's father became seriously ill, so the defendant took over the establishment while it was already in operation. When he gave Ms. Hong 50 million, the defendant only knew to give the money and leave without contacting this person," Mr. Xuan stated.

Afterwards, defendant Xuan said that Hong contacted him about not giving enough money, but the defendant did not know how much was missing because this was a private agreement between Ms. Hong and Xuan's father.

When taking over the bar, the defendant worked with the manager and asked him to contact the authorities to see if there were any shortcomings in fire prevention and fighting so that they could be supplemented. Defendant Xuan stated that he did not know clearly what conditions were required for running a karaoke business because his father had previously done everything.

When asked by the court about his responsibility, Xuan admitted that he made mistakes and did not check the remaining issues during the operation.

The representative of the People's Procuracy asked the defendant Xuan whether he had tested the operation of the fire prevention and fighting system. Mr. Xuan said: "Never tested the operation." He then stated that before the fire broke out, the defendant was very confident in the fire prevention and fighting system because it had been invested in the best equipment.

Responding to the People's Court later, defendant Vu Truong Son (former officer of the Fire Prevention and Fighting Police Department of Binh Duong Police) said he had no comments on the indictment.

In 2017, when assigned tasks and received the design documents for the An Phu facility sent by the public reception department, Mr. Son realized that the documents had some issues that did not meet standards and advised the leader to request the facility owner to supplement them.

Defendant Son stated that after receiving the file back, he saw that the file met all the conditions according to fire prevention and fighting standards, so he submitted it to his superiors for approval.

"The defendant only reviewed the documents on paper and did what he was responsible for. As for how it was actually implemented, he is not responsible," Mr. Son said, adding that this was an especially serious accident so he realized he had some responsibility.

Karaoke owner's wife said the disaster was caused by "bad luck", arguing when declaring: "Confident with the fire protection system" Nam Phương10:38:02 13/09/2022Sharing with a VnExpress reporter, the wife of the owner of Karaoke An Phu is confident with the fire protection system at her establishment. For the dead victims, the family will support 30 million, the injured 5 million and pay the entire hospital fees. Regarding the fire that...