Cao Văn Hùng stands trial on Friday. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — A court in Hà Nội sentenced a man to death on Friday for dousing a crowded café with gasoline and setting it ablaze, killing 11 people and injuring four others in one of the city's deadliest acts of violence in recent memory.

The court convicted Cao Văn Hùng, 53, of murder and property destruction at a one-day trial, imposing the death penalty on the murder count and an additional 13-year prison term for the destruction charge.

Under Vietnamese law, the combined sentence stands as death.

The attack stemmed from a petty grievance, prosecutors said. In November 2024, Hùng visited the café at 258 Phạm Văn Đồng Street in Hà Nội and ordered a beer and a pack of cigarettes.

When the 55,000-đồng tab came due, roughly US$2, he said he had no money. A customer slapped him and told him to pay his bills.

Hùng returned to the café the night of December 18, 2024, and asked staff to identify the man who had struck him. When no one could, another customer intervened and struck him again.

Hùng left, bought gasoline, poured it into a plastic bucket and carried it back to the establishment, where 16 people – two employees and 14 customers – were inside.

He dumped the fuel at the front entrance and ignited it. The fire spread rapidly through the café and into an adjacent workshop.

Eleven people died, four were hospitalised with injuries, and a car, eight motorcycles and other equipment were destroyed. Total property losses exceeded VNĐ2.6 billion, or roughly $100,000.

After the attack, Hùng turned himself in to the police and gave a full confession. He had not paid any compensation to the victims' families before the trial opened.

The panel of judges found that Hùng fully understood the potentially deadly consequences of igniting gasoline in a crowded space but proceeded anyway, describing his conduct as 'exceptionally dangerous' and marked by recklessness and contempt for human life and the rule of law.

"Permanently removing the defendant from society is proportionate to the harm caused and necessary to deter and prevent similar crimes," the court said in its ruling.

Prosecutors had sought the death penalty. They rejected Hùng's claim that he meant only to intimidate, not to kill, noting that he knew his actions could prove fatal but proceeded anyway.

They also cited Hùng's criminal history: he was sentenced to six years in prison for robbery in 1998 and received a 15-month term for theft in 2005.

At Friday's hearing, relatives of the victims submitted claims for compensation covering funeral costs, emotional damages and child-rearing expenses for dependents left behind. — VNS