Police officers at scene of the Carina Plaza fire (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) –Spokesperson of Ho Chi Minh City police Nguyen Si Quang on March 26 saidcriminal proceedings started against a case of serious blaze which burned the localapartment complex Carina Plaza on March 23.
The proceedings are in linewith the 2015 Criminal Code’s Article 313 on violation of fire safety regulations.
Quang said investigation atthe scene identified a malfunctioned scooter as the cause of the incident, withan arson attempt excluded.
Detailed information will beannounced at a press conference of the municipal People’s Committee scheduledfor March 29, he added.
Located at No. 1648 Vo VanKiet street District 8, Carina Plaza is a high-end apartment complex includingthree buildings with 15-21 storeys and 736 apartments. It was put into use sixyears ago.
As many as 13 people died andtens of others were injured when the blaze started at 0:30 from the parkingbasement between Buildings A and B of Carina Plaza. Hundreds of people werestuck and rushed to upper storeys.
The Fire Fighting PoliceDepartment of the city sent 34 fire trucks and 200 police to the site tocontrol the blaze and rescue stuck people. One hour later, the fire was undercontrol, but smoke still covered the buildings. Hundreds of people escapedsafely.
By 16:00 the same day, 35injured people were discharged from hospitals and 56 others were stillundergoing treatment.
Multiple supports have cometo victims of the fire. Most recently, on March 26, a delegation from the CentralCommittee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF), led by its Vice President ofTruong Thi Ngoc Anh, visited injured residents at Cho Ray Hospital. Thedelegation also visited the family of Tran Van An, a guard of the burnedbuilding, who died from the fire.
The committee has decided to supportnearly 200 million VND (8,820 USD) for the victims.-VNA
VNA
