HCM City Police have started criminal proceedings in the case of the Carina Plaza apartment building fire in HCM City’s District 8 which killed 13 people and injured 27 on March 23.— Photo vietnamnet.vn

HCM CITY — HCM City Police have started criminal proceedings in the case of the Carina Plaza apartment building fire in HCM City’s District 8 which killed 13 people and injured 27 on March 23.

Detailed information on the upcoming criminal proceedings will be released at a press meeting to be held today by the HCM City People’s Committee, according to Colonel Nguyễn Sỹ Quang, chief of staff of the city police.

He said on Tuesday that the proceedings were in line with Article 313 of the 2015 Criminal Code that deal with violations of fire safety regulations.

At least 150 motorbikes and 13 cars parked in the basement where the fire originated were destroyed by the blaze.

Located at 1648 Võ Văn Kiệt Street, Carina Plaza complex includes three buildings of 15-21 storeys each and a total of 736 apartments. It opened six years ago.

Quang said the investigation at the scene showed that a malfunctioning motorbike was the cause of the fire, and that arson had been ruled out as a possible cause.

The blaze started at 0:30 in the basement located between buildings A and B of the apartment complex.

The city’s Fire Fighting Police Department sent 34 fire trucks and 200 firefighters to the site to control the blaze and rescue hundreds of people who were trapped inside. An hour after arriving, the fire was under control.

On March 26, a delegation from the Central Committee of the Việt Nam Fatherland Front, led by Deputy President Trương Thị Ngọc Ánh, visited injured residents at Chợ Rẫy Hospital.

The delegation also visited the family of Trần Văn An, a guard at Carina Plaza who died in the fire. 

The Fatherland Front’s central committee plans to offer a total of VNĐ200 million (US$8,820) for families affected by the fire.— VNS