Le Anh Xuan, owner of An Phu karaoke parlor, at the Binh Duong People’s Court, Oct. 30, 2024. Photo by Read/Phuoc Tuan
The owner of a karaoke parlor in southern Vietnam’s Binh Duong Province, where a fire claimed 32 lives in 2022, was sentenced to eight years in prison on Wednesday for violating fire safety regulations.
Le Anh Xuan, the owner of An Phu karaoke parlor, received the sentence from the Binh Duong People’s Court.
The court also handed prison terms ranging from five years to seven years and six months to four former firefighting police officers: Pham Quoc Hung, Vu Truong Son, and Pham Thi Hong, as well as the director of the Thai Binh Company Nguyen Thanh Luan. They were convicted of the same charge.
Nguyen Van Vo, a former captain in the firefighting police force of Binh Duong’s Thuan An City, was sentenced to four years in prison for negligence that led to serious consequences.
According to prosecutors, Xuan failed to regularly inspect and maintain the parlor’s fire safety systems.
Son, Hung and Vo, responsible for inspecting and evaluating the facility’s safety standards, neglected their duties and allowed the parlor to operate without meeting necessary safety regulations, which ultimately led to the deadly fire.
The fire broke out on Sept. 6, 2022 due to short-circuited wires on the second floor of the karaoke parlor. It rapidly spread throughout the building, which had around 60 customers and employees inside at the time.
Firefighters brought the blaze under control after nearly a day, but 32 people lost their lives in the incident.
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