Owner of 5 rental houses around the National Children's Hospital prosecuted

Mr. Hiep (72 years old) was today served with an indictment by the People's Procuracy of Ba Dinh district for the crime ofViolation of fire prevention and fighting regulations.Grandfatherfacing a penalty of 5 to 12 years in prison, according to Article 313 of the 2015 Penal Code.

According to the indictment, Mr. Hiep had 5 rows of rented houses in the C70 mechanical collective alley, De La Thanh street, next to the National Children's Hospital. During the course of his business, he did not ask permission from local authorities but arbitrarily expanded it by erecting an iron frame, then made the floor and partitions with plywood and corrugated iron.

Mr. Hiep was accused of installing an unsynchronized electrical system, transferring electricity from one house to another for his own use. He also failed to install fire extinguishers at the boarding house and failed to build an emergency exit according to regulations.

On April 3, 2018, the interdisciplinary inspection team of Ngoc Khanh ward drew up a report pointing out violations of fire prevention and fighting in the boarding house. Mr. Hiep signed the report but did not comply with the commitment.

The investigation agency determined that Mr. Hiep's fire prevention violations were the cause of the fire at the rented room at 5:00 p.m. on September 17, 2018. The fire killed two people and directly affected the lives of 31 households and 99 people.

"The cause of the fire was an electrical short circuit in a room on the second floor of Mr. Hiep's house," the indictment stated.

Mr. Hiep is known by the nickname Hiep "Crazy" when he opened a boarding house with the price of 15,000 VND. Most of the tenants at Mr. Hiep's house are from far away provinces, have children with serious illnesses, and are in financial difficulty.