Criminal proceedings start against man for involvement in Carina Plaza fire
Ho Chi Minh City’s Investigation Police Agency on August 9 began criminal proceedings against and executed a temporary detention warrant for Nguyen Quoc Tuan, head of the management board of Carina Plaza, for his alleged violations in fire safety regulations, which led to serious consequences in the March blaze.
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Police said its investor, the Hung Thanh Co. Ltd., had failed to obey fire safety regulations. When the fire took place, necessary equipment was not available, while fire alarms and sprinkler system did not work.
In 2016 and 2017, the Fire Fighting Police Division of District 8 inspected and found a series of violations at the complex, such as failed alarms, sprinkler system, and emergency lighting system. Orders to fix these problems were sent to the Carina Plaza management board, but no improvements were made.
In December 2016, Hung Thanh Co. Ltd. signed a contract on management services with the Saigon Real-Estate Service JSC (SEJCO), which then appointed Tuan as the head of the management board.
Investigations revealed that Tuan had known about the problems of firefight devices, but he ignored to make repairs, thus leading to serious consequences of the incident.
The blaze, which started at 0:30 from the parking basement between Buildings A and B of the complex, kill 13 residents and injured over 90 others.
The Investigation police agency on April 20 also started criminal proceedings against Nguyen Van Tung, Director of Hung Thanh Co. Ltd., for his alleged violations in fire safety regulations
Carina Plaza is a high-end apartment complex including three buildings with 15-21 storeys and 736 apartments. It was put into use six years ago.
