Cafe owner fined after foreign tourist seen close to oncoming train
HANOI – The owner of a cafe on Hanoi’s famous train street has been fined 7.5 million Vietnam dongs (S$398) for allowing a foreign tourist to pose for a photograph on the rail track as a train approached.
Hoan Kiem District Police punished the 61-year-old owner of the cafe at No.5 Tran Phu Street in Hang Bong Ward for having no registration license, and for 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, the Hoan Kiem District People’s Committee has requested that the People’s Committees of the Hang Bong, Cua Nam, Cua Dong, Hang Ma and Dong Xuan wards, through which the railway runs, intensify inspections and strictly handle any business activities violating railway traffic safety regulations.
Additionally, Hoan Kiem District Police have been ordered to increase their presence to prevent tourists from activities such as eating, drinking, filming and taking photos 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.
Hoan Kiem 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. – VIETNAM NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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