Binh Duong police arrest karaoke owner after fire disaster

Police in Binh Duong province have arrested Le Anh Xuan, 42, owner of the karaoke where a fire killed 32 last week.

Xuan is charged with “violating rules on fire prevention” per Article 313 of the Penal Code. He told police he had managed the karaoke remotely, not on site.

The blaze broke out around 9 p.m. on September 7 at the four-level An Phu karaoke parlor on Tran Quang Dieu street, Thuan An town, about 40 minutes’ drive from Ho Chi Minh City.

About 60 people were at the facility at the time. It took more than one hour for 13 fire trucks to bring the fire under control.

The karaoke received its business license in 2015 with approved design for fire prevention. It passed three checks on fire prevention and rescue in 2019, 2021, and 2022.

After the incident, Binh Duong police began checking all karaokes and massage facilities in the province. As of September 14, they had checked over 300 locations, detected violations at 144, and suspended 35.

Six years ago, in November 2016, a karaoke parlor fire in Hanoi's Cau Giay district had killed 13 people.

On August 1 this year, three firefighters died in a search and rescue operation launched after a fire broke out at a six-storey karaoke parlor, also in Cau Giay district, Hanoi.