The inspections, conducted following the recent deadly fire in Thanh Xuan District which left 56 people dead in September, are aimed at identifying fire and explosion-prone facilities.

As of the middle of October this year, the city had inspected nearly 23,400 residential buildings that are vulnerable to fires and explosions. The inspections looked into 311 mini apartment buildings, over 13,300 homes for rent, 255 apartment towers and over 9,550 housing units in combination with business operations.

As a result, 629 facilities were fined for administrative violations, with total penalties of VND3.5 billion. Meanwhile, 129 establishments were subject to temporary suspension and 24 construction projects had their permits withdrawn due to their violations of fire preventing and prevention regulations.

However, 64 communes and wards, as well as Cau Giay District and Tuong Mai Ward of Hoang Mai District, failed to conduct inspections on fire fighting and prevention in due course, as instructed by city authorities.

During scrutiny, many shortcomings and violations have been detected in construction and electrical safety.

Source: Saigon Times