VietNamNet Bridge – The People’s Court of Hanoi on Tuesday sentenced 32-year-old Nguyen Dieu Linh, the owner of a karaoke shop to nine years in prison for violating regulations on fire-fighting prevention and control.

Three defendants at the court on Tuesday.— VNA/VNS Photo Doan Tan

A blaze that occurred in Linh’s nine-storey karaoke shop in late 2016 killed 13 people, including 12 customers and one staff.

Under the indictment, Linh was found operating the shop without a business licence and verification of the fire-fighting system of the shop by authorised agencies when the fire reportedly happened.

Linh had hired Hoang Van Tuan, 25, and Le Thi Thi, 56, to weld an iron frame on the karaoke shop’s ceiling on November 1, 2016. While Tuan was welding a connection between two points of the iron frame, it suddenly caused a spark resulting in a fire that quickly spread to other areas of the shop. Tuan had ignored safety regulations, as he had not used protective tools while carrying out the welding process. The fire aggravated when it came in contact with flammable material in the shop.

It quickly burnt down the shop and spread to three neighbouring houses. The local fire-fighting team took more than seven hours to bring the fire under control.

The court also gave Tuan and Thi seven years in prison each for the same offence.

The three defendants were asked to give money to bring up the children of the dead victims until they were 18, as well as to take care of the old parents of the dead victims.

Source: VNS