HCM CITY — The investigative police unit in HCM City has issued a decision to arrest Nguyễn Văn Tùng, investor of the Carina Plaza in the city as part of an investigation into a serious blaze that occurred on March 23 and killed 13 people.

Tùng, who is the director of the Hùng Thanh Ltd Company, will be put in custody for four months.

The information was confirmed by Colonel Nguyễn Sỹ Quang, spokesman of the HCMC Police Department. 

The proceedings are in line with the 2015 Criminal Code’s Article 313 on violation of fire safety regulations.

On March 23, a blaze, which was caused by a motorcycle in the parking area of the Carina building, broke out and killed 13 people, with 11 of them dying of smoke inhalation and two jumping out of windows or balconies.

Some 90 more people were injured and had to be hospitalised. The fire also destroyed 150 motorcycles and five cars, causing damage to another 10 cars.

Previously, investigators on March 26 pressed charges relating to the inferno at the Carina Plaza residential block, which they said resulted from violations of fire prevention and fighting rules.

The authorities also identified that the investor of Carina Plaza had not properly followed fire safety regulations. When the fire broke out, it turned out that many items of required equipment were not present, and the fire alarms and sprinklers did not work.—VNS