On the afternoon of September 13, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visited the scene and visited Bach Mai Hospital to visit the victims of the particularly serious apartment fire that occurred in Thanh Xuan District ( Hanoi ). On the same day, the Prime Minister signed a dispatch requesting to handle the fire at the mini apartment building in lane 29/70, Khuong Ha Street (Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi).
Mini apartment building in Bui Xuong Trach (Hanoi)
In the telegram, on behalf of the Government, the Prime Minister sent his condolences to the relatives and families of the victims. The Prime Minister requested the Hanoi People's Committee to closely coordinate with the Ministry of Public Security to direct functional forces to focus on overcoming the consequences, promptly investigate the cause of the fire, clarify the responsibilities of relevant organizations and individuals; strictly handle violations (if any) according to the provisions of law.
In addition, the Prime Minister also requested the Ministry of Public Security and People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities to continue to seriously and resolutely implement the directions of the National Assembly , the Government and the Prime Minister on fire prevention and fighting. Immediately after that, the Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee assigned the Hanoi Police to take action, and at the same time assigned the Thanh Xuan District People's Committee to coordinate with the police force to clarify the cause of the fire, review the responsibilities of related organizations and individuals; and report to the Standing Committee of the City Party Committee and the City People's Committee in September.
In particular, the leaders of the Hanoi People's Committee assigned the Chairmen of the People's Committees of districts, towns and cities to conduct a general inspection and review of 100% of facilities, multi-apartment houses, and rental houses in the management area, especially mini-apartments.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh inspects the scene of the mini apartment fire on Khuong Ha street.
Obsess
By last night (September 13), Hanoi City Police said that the terrible fire that occurred on the evening of September 12 at a mini apartment building at 37, lane 29/70 Khuong Ha (Khuong Dinh Ward, Thanh Xuan District) had killed 56 people and injured 37 others.
This apartment building is located deep in a small alley, about 400 meters from Khuong Ha street. When a fire breaks out, a specialized fire truck can only move to the end of alley 29 Khuong Ha and then use a water hose from a distance of more than 100 meters to reach the scene. This apartment building is designed in a tube style, has 9 floors with 45 apartments and only has one exit at the main door. The first floor is used for parking, the remaining floors are apartments for rent. The two sides of the apartment building's loggia are fitted with stainless steel bars, with an exit, but no ladder.
When the fire broke out, many people could not escape in time. Although the rescue team tried their best, they could not avoid tragedy.
Fire scene at 9-storey mini apartment building in lane 29/70 Khuong Ha
Fear of fire
According to Thanh Nien's research, there are currently many other mini apartments in Thanh Xuan District. In alley 20/70/19 Khuong Ha Street, there are 2 apartment buildings built 6 floors high with similar designs. If an incident occurs on the first floor, the only exit will be blocked. Instead, people can only run to the top floor to wait for help.
The fire and explosion situation is very complicated.
On the morning of September 13, at the 26th meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee, Head of the National Assembly Delegation Affairs Committee Nguyen Thi Thanh mentioned the situation of continuous and serious fires that have occurred recently and said that "the fire and explosion situation nationwide is very complicated."
Ms. Thanh cited data from a government report that in the first eight months of 2023, there were 2,031 fires, an increase of 38%, killing 83 people, an increase of 48% over the same period last year. "There were times when fires broke out consecutively, killing 3-4 people in the same family," Ms. Thanh said.
Ms. Thanh also cited a Government report saying that there are still more than 38,000 facilities nationwide that have been put into use but still have violations of fire prevention and fighting and are unlikely to be able to be remedied according to technical standards on fire prevention and fighting.
Reporting at the meeting on the number of 38,000 establishments that still have violations of fire prevention and fighting and are difficult to fix, Deputy Minister of Public Security Le Van Tuyen said the reason is that the Ministry of Construction has recently issued new, higher standards on fire prevention and fighting. Meanwhile, the above establishments were rebuilt according to the old standards, making it very difficult to fix.
Le Hiep
Grasping the need to rent apartments of students, low-income workers..., many mini apartment buildings, 6-storey tube houses have appeared around university areas or in the inner city of Hanoi. To optimize "profit", many investors will choose to build mini apartments, tube houses in alleys, cars cannot move in. At the same time, the loggia is designed to be built inside to maximize the area of the apartment. Because it is built in alleys and adjacent to many high-rise buildings, windows, vents or loggias are all welded with steel frames to ensure security and order. This has invisibly caused many difficulties for people when incidents occur from the inside.
For example, in the alleys of Dong Me Street, Me Tri Thuong Street (Me Tri Ward, Nam Tu Liem District, Hanoi), due to being close to many universities and bus stations, this place has gradually become the "capital" of mini apartments and tube houses. Walking along these alleys, it is not difficult to see signs for renting apartments in mini apartments with an area of 20 - 35 m².
Many mini apartments deep in alleys in Hanoi
Unforeseen consequences
Referring to the recent tragic fire, according to lawyer Tran Tuan Anh, Director of Minh Bach Law Firm, after initiating the case, the police need to clarify the responsibilities of the relevant parties such as: investors, authorities at all levels, urban officials, fire prevention and fighting officers in charge of the area... In addition, it is necessary to review the entire process of forming the project from the origin of the land to the construction process, putting it into use, checking fire prevention and fighting...
In particular, it is necessary to clarify why a project that concentrates so many people on such a small area and is located in such a narrow alley was built and put into operation. Next, it is necessary to clarify the responsibility of the authorities in the following cases: if there is no construction permit, why is an unsafe project allowed to grow? And if there is a construction permit, is it built correctly or not?
Clarify the responsibilities of relevant organizations and individuals
After the incident, Hanoi City Police issued a decision to prosecute the case, prosecute the accused and temporarily detain Mr. Nghiem Quang Minh (44 years old, residing in Yen Hoa Ward, Cau Giay District, Hanoi) for the crime of "violating regulations on fire prevention and fighting".
According to Thanh Nien's investigation, Thanh Xuan District People's Committee granted a construction permit to Mr. Nghiem Quang Minh in March 2015. Construction permit No. 89 dated March 11, 2021 was signed by Vice Chairman of Thanh Xuan District People's Committee Dang Hong Thai. The project is identified as a single-family house, located at Group 3, Cluster 4 (No. 37, Alley 29/70, Khuong Ha Street). The construction area of the first floor (with mezzanine) is 167.4 m², construction density 70%. The project has a height of 6 floors, the mezzanine and the elevator shaft have technical space; the total construction floor area is 1,165.9 m²; the total height of the project is 20.2 m (excluding the elevator shaft).
According to the reporter's observation, the above building is one of the tallest buildings in lane 29 Khuong Ha, 3 floors higher than the license. After being put into use, this building became a mini apartment building with 45 apartments, with about 150 residents.
Mr. Dang Hong Thai, former Vice Chairman of Thanh Xuan District People's Committee, confirmed that when the homeowner built without permission, he had two documents directing punishment. According to Mr. Thai, he issued a decision to enforce and assigned the Chairman of Khuong Dinh Ward People's Committee to implement the decision to enforce, but what happens next must be checked.
Mai Thu - Nguyen Truong
"Why were licenses granted for such unsafe construction? Where is the local government's responsibility for supervision? Is there lax management?", Mr. Tuan Anh said.
Meanwhile, architect and independent critic Pham Thanh Tung said the mini apartment fire showed the weak licensing and urban management of the management agency. "There have been many recommendations not to develop mini apartments but to control this type of housing from design to appraisal, but there is still laxity in management," said Mr. Tung.
Many mini apartments deep in alleys in Hanoi
Faced with the terrible consequences caused by the fire, Mr. Le Van Thinh, former Head of Construction Quality Management Department 1 (State Appraisal Department of Construction Quality, Ministry of Construction), raised the issue of clarifying the licensing, construction and management process of the above mini apartment building. At the same time, Mr. Thinh said that it is necessary to clarify the issue of putting the project into operation, how the fire prevention and fighting police, local police, and relevant authorities manage, inspect and control? Are cases that do not meet fire prevention and fighting conditions reported and prevented from being put into use?
"If not well controlled, the consequences will be unpredictable," Mr. Thinh emphasized.
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