All agencies and schools in Hanoi observed a minute of silence at 8:00 am on Monday to pay tribute to 56 dead victims of a fire at an apartment block in Thanh Xuan District of the capital on Tuesday night last week.

Officials of Thanh Xuan District paid silent homage to the deceased at the district’s hall, while officials of wards and other agencies in the district attended a requiem at their headquarters.

At Khuong Dinh Elementary and Middle Schools, of which many students are victims in the blaze, the same ceremony was held. 

Also, other schools in the capital concurrently paid silent tribute to the deaths.

At the hall of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee in Hanoi, all officials also commemorated the deceased of the fire. They later made donations to the families of the victims.

The conflagration hit the apartment block down a narrow alley on Khuong Ha Street in Thanh Xuan District and claimed the lives of 56 people while injuring 37 others.

The apartment block, consisting of nine floors and a mezzanine, was home to around 150 people.

The municipal police later detained Nghiem Quang Minh, 44, residing in Cau Giay District, Hanoi, the owner of the apartment block, over alleged violations of fire prevention and fighting regulations.

After the incident, secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Dinh Tien Dung asked municipal agencies to provide support at the highest level for the victims.

The Hanoi People’s Committee suspended all cultural, sports, and entertainment activities until Sunday in order to hold memorial services for those who perished in the city’s deadliest fire on record.

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