23,400 flats, rented houses checked for fire safety: Hanoi People's Committee
Measures are in place to ensure that there will be no recurrence of similar building fires.
Since mid-September 2023, government agencies in Hanoi have inspected 400 tenement buildings and more than 23,000 rented dwellings for fire safety standards, according to the city's People's Committee.
The inspection was carried out after a fire gutted a tenement in Khuong Dinh ward, Thanh Xuan District, killing 56 people.
On September 13, 2023, the Hanoi People's Committee launched a citywide inspection of tenements, apartment buildings and rental houses in all 30 districts and nearly 580 wards and communes to prevent a recurrence.
"Local authorities are serious about fire prevention," said Truong Viet Dung, head of the Hanoi People's Committee Office, at a press conference on the city’s socio-economic development on March 28.
Dung, head of the office of the Hanoi People's Committee, said the city had issued six plans to rehabilitate dilapidated local apartment blocks. So far, 105 investors have expressed interest in the plan.
The rehabilitation of dilapidated residential buildings is also provided for in the amended Capital Law, which is expected to be passed by the National Assembly in May 2024, he said.
Hanoi plans to inspect another 1,000 old apartment buildings, Dung said, adding that Dong Da District has completed the development of specific reconstruction plans for the neighborhoods of Khuong Thuong and Kim Lien residential areas.
Responding to reporters' questions about the investigation into the tenement fire, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Police Department Nguyen Thanh Tung said they had prosecuted and detained Nghiem Xuan Minh, the owner of the tenement.
Police have also charged six people with violating state management regulations, he said. "It will take some time to verify and decide whether these people have breached the Party's rules and administrative regulations," he said.
There will be zero tolerance for any infractions, as demanded by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and the Ministry of Public Security, Tung added.
Since the tenement fire, a citywide investigation has been launched targeting city and local officials whose wrongdoings led to the incident.
On January 31, 2024, the police prosecuted six officials of the Construction Inspection Division of Khuong Dinh Ward and Thanh Xuan District.
On February 2, 2024, the Standing Committee of the Hanoi Party Committee announced disciplinary action against local Party organizations and 28 members in connection with the fire.
The Party organizations subject to the disciplinary measures include the Standing Committee of the Thanh Xuan District Party Committee, the Party Committee of the Thanh Xuan Police Division, and the Party Committees of Hanoi, Thanh Xuan District and Khuong Dinh Ward for the 2015-2020 and 2020-2025 terms.
On March 27, 2024, the Hanoi Party Committee held a meeting to decide how to punish its members and those involved in the fire.
