June 20, 2024
HANOI – The owner of a cafe on Hà Nội’s famous train street has been fined VNĐ7.5 million (US$300) for allowing a foreign tourist to pose for a photograph on the rail track as a train approached.
Hoàn Kiếm District Police punished the 61-year-old owner of the cafe at No.5 Trần Phú Street, Hàng Bông Ward, Hoàn Kiếm District for having no registration license, and allowing customers to engage in behaviour that endangered safety.
On June 18, a video on Facebook went viral showing a woman coming out onto the track and seemingly pose for a photo, as the train approached.
As the train nears, a man came running to push the woman to safety.
The man was later identified as the cafe owner.
Following the incident, Hoàn Kiếm District People’s Committee has requested that the People’s Committees of the Hàng Bông, Cửa Nam, Cửa Đông, Hàng Mã, and Đồng Xuân wards, through which the railway runs, intensify inspections and strictly handle any business activities violating railway traffic safety regulations.
Additionally, Hoàn Kiếm District Police have been ordered to increase their presence to prevent tourists from eating, drinking, filming, taking photos, etc., within the railway traffic safety corridor.
Measures must be taken to ensure that people do not engage in dangerous actions that could affect railway operations, it said.
Coordination with the railway sector to man checkpoints and ensure railway traffic safety is also required.
Hoàn Kiếm District has also instructed the wards and relevant authorities to continue to strengthen the dissemination of laws regarding railway traffic order and safety. The focus should be on publicising prohibited behaviour according to the Railway Law.
More barriers and warning signs should be installed and further personnel to monitor and address urban order and safety violations within the railway corridor, with strict handling of any violations.