HÀ NỘI – Hà Nội’s investigative agency began legal proceedings against Nguyễn Diệu Linh, owner of the karaoke bar at No. 68 Trần Thái Tông Street in Cầu Giấy district, where 13 customers were killed by a fire on November 1.
The proceedings were also taken against Lê Thị Thi, head of a company in charge of renovation work for the karaoke bar, and welder Hoàng Văn Tuấn. Both are currently being detained.
The three have been charged with violating regulations on fire prevention and safety.
The police earlier confirmed that carelessness by Tuấn, who is a free-lancer working without a professional licence, was one of the main causes behind the karaoke bar fire.
It took more than seven hours for firefighters to extinguish the fire.
Nguyễn Diệu Linh, from Hà Đông District’s Văn Quán, said she hired the building for ten years from July this year to July 2026 to run a karaoke service business.
Linh then signed a contract with the Thiiên An Phú Investment Join-stock Company based in Hoàn Kiếm District’s Phúc Tân Ward to design and install fire fighting accessories for the bar.
The design and installation plan for fire fighting was licensed by the local police on October 13, and the company started implementation right away.
By October 31, about 90 per cent of the plan had been finished, except a connection for the operation of the fire fighting system, the investigation revealed.
The implementation of the bar’s firefighting system plan had not been completed, but the bar owner still let customers use the room on the second floor on the day when the fire occurred.—VNS