Trial of the owner of the Khuong Ha mini apartment fire, the penalty can be up to 12 years in prison

On the morning of March 10, the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City. Hanoi tried 8 people responsible for the fire of a mini apartment in Khuong Ha Street, Thanh Xuan District, which killed 56 people and injured 44 people. The trial is expected to last 3 days under the supervision of Judge Dang Manh Cam Yen.

Among the 8 defendants, the owner of the house Nghiem Quang Minh was prosecuted for the crime of "Violation of regulations on fire prevention and fighting" according to Clause 3, Article 313 with a maximum penalty of 12 years in prison. In addition, 7 other people were prosecuted for the crime of "Lack of responsibility causing serious consequences" under Clause 3, Article 360 with a prison sentence of 7-12 years.

In addition to the defendants, the court summoned 84 victims and 72 people present in court, the remaining 12 were absent. There are 10 out of 12 people who have rights and obligations related to attending court according to the summons.

According to the indictment, Nghiem Quang Minh is the owner of a land plot with an area of 240m2 at No. 37, corner 29/70 Khuong Ha street. On March 11, 2015, Minh was granted a Permit to build a detached house with a construction density of 70%, a total floor area of more than 1,100m2, including 6 floors, mezzanine floors and ladders, a total of 33 rooms. However, from May 2015 to the end of 2015, Minh arbitrarily changed the design, built to 9 floors and 1 tum, bringing the total number of rooms to 45 without making design documents, appraising, acceptance, or fire prevention and fighting management as prescribed.

On July 28, 2015, when the project was under construction to the 7th floor, the Construction Inspection Team of Khuong Dinh Ward detected the violation, made a record of administrative violations, requested to stop the construction, and at the same time reported to the Ward People's Committee and the Construction Inspection Team of Thanh Xuan District.

On July 29, 2015, the People's Committee of Khuong Dinh ward issued a decision to suspend the construction, and on August 3, 2015, the People's Committee of Thanh Xuan district sanctioned Minh 15 million VND, requesting the demolition of the illegal construction. Then, on August 26, 2015, the District People's Committee issued a decision to enforce the sanction. However, after receiving the enforcement decision, Minh did not implement it but continued to build, while responsible officials such as Chu Xuan Son, Nguyen Dinh Quan, Nguyen Thi Kim Trang and Pham Thanh Tung lacked supervision and did not report on the implementation progress, leading to the completion of the entire 9 floors.

The indictment also states that after selling all 45 apartments, Minh did not reside in the building, determined that the management and use rights belonged to all residents and were not responsible for the residents' living and operation of the building.

All motorbikes, electric motorcycles, and electric bicycles of residents are located on the 1st floor of the building, with an average of about 70-80 vehicles. According to the management decentralization, from March 10, 2021, this mini apartment is under the management of the People's Committee of Khuong Dinh ward. The Chairman of the Ward People's Committee has assigned the Ward Police to be responsible for and preside over the implementation of work related to fire prevention and fighting safety.

The head of the People's Committee of Khuong Dinh ward also assigned Vice Chairman Pham Tan Anh to be in charge of the state management of fire protection and rescue and rescue. The Chief of Police of Khuong Dinh Ward assigned his deputy Nguyen Tuan Anh to be in charge of fire protection.

Through the fire protection inspection in the area, from August 31, 2018 to June 12, 2020, the Thanh Xuan District Police detected many violations of fire protection at the above building and determined that this is a violation of fire protection regulations, if not prevented in time, it can lead to the risk of direct fire and explosion. can have particularly serious consequences.

On June 24, 2020, the People's Committee of Thanh Xuan district issued a decision to suspend the operation of the 1st floor of the building, starting from 8 a.m. on the same day, assigning Nghiem Quang Minh and the households living and managing the building to be responsible for implementing and implementing the requirements for ensuring fire safety; assign the People's Committee of Khuong Dinh ward and the ward police to coordinate, supervise and urge the implementation.

However, Minh and the residents did not comply, so on June 29, 2020, the Thanh Xuan District Police sent an official letter to Minh and the residents requesting implementation, and at the same time sent an official letter to the People's Committee of Khuong Dinh Ward and the Ward Police to urge and supervise. However, Minh and the residents still did not comply.

At about 23:20 on September 12, 2023, from a short circuit, the 1st floor of the building caught fire. As a result of the fire, 56 people died, 44 people were injured, and property damage was more than 3.2 billion VND.

The pain of a couple protecting a mini apartment, regretting "putting their heads in to put out the fire and not saving their child" Kim Lâm15:29:57 19/09/2023Being the first to discover the fire, the security guard and his wife tried their best to put out the fire because they wanted to protect the apartment's common property without having time to call their children. Unexpectedly, because of that, grandparents had to experience extreme pain when they lost both their children...