Postponement of the appeal trial of the mini apartment fire in Khuong Dinh

(Chinhphu.vn) - As planned, this morning, June 5, the High People's Court in Hanoi will open an appeal hearing on the appeal for a reduced sentence of the defendants and victims in the mini apartment fire that killed 56 people. However, due to some objective reasons, the panel of judges decided to postpone the hearing.

Defendants at the first instance trial of the mini apartment fire in Khuong Dinh that killed 56 people - Photo: Hanoi People's Court

Judge Pham Van Nam, Chairman of the trial, Deputy Chief Justice of the High People's Court in Hanoi, said that due to some objective reasons, the Trial Panel (PC) decided to postpone the trial, and the time to reopen the trial will be announced later by the PC.

Previously, from March 10 to 14, Hanoi People's Court opened the first instance trial of the case.

Accordingly, the People's Court sentenced defendant Nghiem Quang Minh to 12 years in prison for "Violating regulations on fire prevention and fighting".

The other defendants are former managers who were sentenced to 30 months to 7 years in prison for negligence causing serious consequences.

After the first instance trial, defendant Nghiem Quang Minh and other defendants appealed for a reduced sentence or a suspended sentence. Many families of the victims also appealed.

According to the first instance verdict, defendant Nghiem Quang Minh is the owner of a 240 m2 land plot at No. 37, Alley 29/70, Khuong Ha Street, Khuong Dinh Ward, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi City.

In December 2015, defendant Minh started construction of a mini apartment building and arbitrarily changed the construction design, building 3 more floors and 12 more rooms (apartments) than the Construction Permit. The project did not have a design file, review, acceptance, or fire prevention and fighting management.

The defendant then sold 45 apartments and transferred the right to manage and use the apartments long-term to individuals and households. By the end of 2016, all 45 apartments were occupied.

At about 23:20 on September 12, 2023, the fire broke out. The Hanoi City Police Command Center mobilized fire fighting forces throughout the city to fight the fire and rescue.

The fire resulted in 56 deaths, 44 injuries to varying degrees, and property damage of 3.2 billion VND.

During the process of defendant Minh building the mini apartment building, the authorities discovered violations, but the group of officials managing this field did not properly perform their duties and responsibilities in management work, leaving the violating construction unattended.

The first instance judgment determined that the defendant’s actions caused particularly serious consequences in terms of the number of deaths, injuries, and property damage. Among the dead and injured were many children, and many families lost their entire families, causing painful loss to society.

Regarding civil liability, the first instance judgment ordered defendant Minh to compensate all damages to the victims’ lives, health, property, etc., totaling more than 23 billion VND. The compensation is divided into 3 appendices including compensation for the victims who died, compensation for the injured victims, and compensation for property.

Accordingly, defendant Minh must compensate the 56 deceased for funeral expenses, support for those the victim had to support, and mental damage.

For the 46 injured people, the Court ordered the defendant to compensate for medical expenses, reduced income, lost income, and mental damage.

The court ordered defendant Minh to fully repair and restore the original condition of the apartment building as well as cover cleaning and sanitation costs; and compensate for burned and damaged motorbikes.

Toan Thang

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/lui-thoi-gian-phien-toa-xet-xu-phuc-tham-vu-chay-chung-cu-mi-ni-tai-khuong-dinh-102250605110913616.htm