Prosecution of childcare facility owner in An Giang for "involuntary manslaughter"

On the afternoon of September 18, the Investigation Police Agency of Chau Thanh District Police (An Giang Province) announced that the unit had just issued a decision to prosecute the case, prosecute the accused and temporarily detain Phan Ngoc Minh Thu (born in 1991, residing in Vinh Thoi Hamlet, Vinh Hanh Commune, Chau Thanh District, An Giang Province) to continue investigating the act of "Involuntary manslaughter due to violation of professional rules".

The above decisions have been approved by the People's Procuracy at the same level.

According to the initial investigation, at around 6:30 a.m. on May 25, 2023, Ms. Nguyen Thi Tham (born in 1989, residing in Vinh Hoa A hamlet, Can Dang commune, Chau Thanh district, An Giang province) took her child Ngo Hoang Bach (born in 2021) to the childcare facility "Minh Ngoc Children's Group" owned by Phan Ngoc Minh Thu and then went to work.

At around 2:00 p.m. the same day, Thu saw Bach crying, showing signs of fatigue and writhing, so she called Tham to come pick him up. Tham called her father, Nguyen Tri Dang, to come pick him up.

When Mr. Dang arrived at the nursery, he saw that his child had fainted, so he and Ms. Tham took him to the emergency room. However, Bach died before arriving at the Chau Thanh District Medical Center. Mr. Dang went to the Vinh Hanh Commune Police to report the incident.

The case was then transferred to the Investigation Police Agency of Chau Thanh District Police for investigation according to its authority.

According to the autopsy results, the cause of Bach's death was acute hemorrhagic shock due to closed abdominal trauma and ruptured mesenteric artery.

The investigation determined that Phan Ngoc Minh Thu babysat without a license as required, and did not meet the conditions and standards for babysitting. Thu was responsible for many tasks such as caring for, raising, and educating the children, so she could not manage them; while babysitting, she accidentally caused Bach's death.

At the time of the incident, Thu was taking care of 9 children. The case is being further investigated by the Investigation Police Agency of Chau Thanh District Police.