Fresh probe ordered into Quy Nhon market fire

An appeals court in Quy Nhon Town Friday ordered police to begin a fresh investigation into a 2006 market fire, expressing doubt over previous evidence used to convict a shopkeeper.

The court said fresh evidence given during the first two days of the trial on Wednesday and Thursday contradicted police’s charge that a fan at a height of two meters in Vo Thi Thuy Van’s shop had caused the fire. Witnesses told the appeals court the fire had started at a height of 10 cm in another stall. The blaze at the three-story Cho Lon Market in December 2006 had destroyed it causing damages of over VND134 billion (US$8 million). The Binh Dinh Province People’s Court sentenced seven people to jail last May. Van was sentenced to eight years for “violating fire regulations” after an electrical short in her fan was found to have caused the fire. Nguyen Thanh Hai, security guard, was sentenced to five years. He fainted and foamed in his mouth on hearing the verdict. Two other guards, Doan Dinh Tri and Doan Binh respectively received 11 years and five years. Deputy head of the market security squad at the time, Pham Viet Ngo, was given eight years. Do Thanh Tam, head of the market management, was sentenced to three years, and his deputy, Do Thanh Tan, got 30 months. All of them were charged with “dereliction of duty.” Van had asked for the case to be reinvestigated but the court dismissed her request. The court also ordered the seven defendants to pay VND122 billion ($7.25 million) to more than 500 vendors who lost their shops in the fire. But the stall owners protested the verdict, saying that the defendants cannot afford so much money and that their contracts stated the market management would be responsible in case of fire. Reported by Dinh Phu