Vietnam’s micro-apartments are a godsend for the poor – and a deadly risk
Al Jazeera
An apartment block fire that killed 56 people last year has highlighted the dangers of Vietnam’s tiny urban dwellings.
Hanoi, Vietnam – In the Vietnamese capital’s Thanh Xuan district, where labyrinthine alleys bustle with residential life and university students, memories of last year’s deadly apartment fire linger.
Late on the night of September 12, 2023, a blaze ripped through an apartment building on Khuong Ha Street in Khuong Dinh ward, killing 56 people, including four children.
Police determined the fire started from a short circuit in the electrical wiring of a scooter parked on the first floor, before quickly spreading to the building’s upper floors – added by the building’s owner to create tiny subdivided apartments that could house triple as many tenants.
For years, micro-apartments, known as “chung cu mini”, have sprouted throughout Vietnam’s metropolises, cramming low-income families and college students into substandard, fire-prone housing.
“These apartments are like mushrooms, they are everywhere,” Lan Vo, a former resident of a micro-apartment in Thanh Xuan, told Al Jazeera, requesting to be referred to by a pseudonym to avoid harassment.
