In Hanoi, more and more tall buildings are springing up, not large in area, but divided into many rooms inside to be sold or rented out, colloquially called "mini apartments". The characteristic of this type of tiny apartment is that it grows in small, narrow alleys, surrounded by houses in 3 or even 4 directions. In the photo are two mini apartment "buildings" located next to each other on Duong Quang Ham Street, Cau Giay District, in which the house on the left uses the first floor to rent out for medicine and pharmaceutical business.
There are houses that are just tube houses but are designed with many small rooms and then sold without a land use right certificate. All the apartments in a house like this share a "pink book". Because of the cheap price, many people have to buy them to have a stable place to "come in and out" without having to rent a house. In the photo, a mini apartment "building" in alley 29, Khuong Ha street, Thanh Xuan district, only one apartment has a balcony, the rest are completely closed.
The characteristic of mini apartments is that they are often located in deep alleys, with winding entrances, far from water sources, and most of them do not meet fire safety conditions. In addition, the arrangement and placement of items and goods of surrounding households is often messy, blocking the way.
Mr. Nguyen Viet Trung has rented a 20m2 mini apartment in an alley on Chua Lang street (Dong Da district) for 4 years.
 |  |
This apartment, like the others in the tube house, was installed with a closed "tiger cage". The most open space is the skylight area, which the investor designed to hang the air conditioner's hot block. "There is almost no escape route on all 3 sides in case of an accident," Trung shared.
According to a reporter's survey, fire alarm equipment and devices in many mini-apartments are very rudimentary. For example, in the entire "building" where Mr. Trung is renting, on average, only 3 floors have fire fighting equipment.
In the photo is a corner of the "tiger cage" in a house built in the model of a mini apartment building on Kham Thien Street that has just been inaugurated and has not welcomed any guests yet. This apartment has an area of 30 square meters and is rented for 7.5 million VND/month.
The balcony is fenced off, and the investor has installed sturdy bars on the windows. This ensures safety for families with small children, but is dangerous in the event of a fire.
Below, the path is quite small, with power lines tangled around steel fences.
MP rents a 20m2 apartment in a mini-apartment building in Thanh Xuan district for 3.7 million VND/month. She said that most of the houses around here are designed to lack air, and the exits are all blocked for security reasons. The top floor of this mini-apartment was previously used as a communal drying yard but is now blocked off to be rented out as an office.
A mini apartment building on Nguyen Van Huyen Street has a drying yard right inside the house because it does not have a balcony. The skylights are turned into storage for the residents in the building.
According to the residents, in general, apartments in most mini-apartments are cramped, cramped, the living environment is not guaranteed, and there is no fire safety. However, they still have to use them because there is no other way.
During rush hour, the motorbike parking spaces at most mini apartments that the reporter visited were packed, making it difficult to move around. Because they were built a long time ago, all electrical equipment was placed right in the basement of the building and not installed underground in a discreet manner.
Hanoi police inform about mini apartment fire
Hanoi police have officially reported on the fire at a mini apartment building at No. 37, Lane 29/70, Khuong Ha Street, Khuong Dinh Ward (Thanh Xuan District). Authorities have rescued more than 70 people trapped in the fire.
Hanoi Chairman urgently requests inspection of all mini apartments
Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee Tran Sy Thanh has just issued an urgent dispatch requesting the Chairmen of districts to inspect 100% of mini apartments and boarding houses to promptly detect and strictly handle violations of construction order and fire prevention and fighting.
The mini apartment building that just caught fire has a design that 'imprisons' the residents.
The apartments do not have balconies, the living room has two ventilation slots, the bedroom windows are fitted with fixed bars... are factors that make many people living inside the mini apartment building 29/70 Khuong Ha (Hanoi) have no way to escape when a big fire breaks out.
Source
Comment (0)