Many houses have collapsed in recent years in Hanoi, killing dozens of residents, pointing to architectural and construction failures.
Most of the collapsed houses are two-to-five-storey French colonial period buildings were unstable due to old age or poor quality renovation work.
At 3.15 yesterday morning, August 4, an old four-storey building suddenly collapsed at 43 Cua Bac Street, killing two people and injured three others. According to local people, the house was built in the 1980s and is now used as a restaurant.
The house's weak foundation and the construction of a house project at No.41 Cua Bac were blamed for the collapse.
On September 22 last year, an old two-storey French villa at 107 Tran Hung Dao Street collapsed, killing two people and injured six others.
The building was built in 1905 and was then being used as an office of the Vietnam Railways Administration. The local authorities said that the 110-year-old building collapsed due to its weak walls which were badly damaged in heavy rains.
On March 31, 2011, a five-story building at 49 Huynh Thu Khang Street collapsed, causing large damage to an electronics store opposite. Witnesses said that the building was leaning for about an hour before collapsing so people had enough time to escape.
Work on a building that saw many of its walls destroyed to make a large restaurant had caused the building to collapse, according to a post-incident report by the local authorities.
A gas explosion destroyed a house on November 3, 2011 at Lane 22 Ta Quang Buu Street, killing two children. The narrow lane made it very difficult for the rescue work.
On October 19, 2010, a five-storey building at 91B Hang Ma Street collapsed on a neighbouring house construction project.
The residents had successfully moved out when noticing the cracked walls. The foundation construction of the house project was blamed for the collapse.
