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Police in the province announced Friday to probe into Nguyen Duy Linh, former lieutenant colonel and former captain of Thuan An Town’s Fire Prevention and Fighting Police and Nguyen Van Vo, forme captain and former officer of the unit, for "lacking responsibilities, causing serious consequences."
Vo, 37, has been detained while Linh, 41, is under house arrest.
Before the investigation was launched, both of them had been dismissed from the police force.
According to the police, Linh and Vo committed violations and were irresponsible in the management and inspections of fire prevention and control at An Phu karaoke bar in Thuan An Town before the deadly fire occurred on Sep. 6.
Their irresponsibility is believed to be one of the causes of the fire that resulted in the death of 32 customers and staff members at the parlor, making it the deadliest of the last two decades, police said, without giving further details.
The fire occurred at around 8:30 p.m. on Sep. 6, with around 60 customers and employees inside the parlor. Many people had to jump off a balcony on the second floor to get to safety and got injured.
It has been confirmed that a short-circuit in its second-floor ceiling had caused the fire for the three-floor facility.
Binh Duong Police had arrested the parlor’s owner, Le Anh Xuan, 42, a HCMC resident. He is facing charges of violating fire safety regulations.
Since the parlor was opened in 2016 it has been inspected for fire safety once each in 2019, 2021 and 2022 and cleared every time.
Police recall rescue mission in Binh Duong deadly karaoke fire, September 2022. Video by VnExpress/Tuan Viet, Nguyen Diep, Phuoc Tuan
