Prison Terms Given to People Responsible for Fire in LuoyangTwentythree people found responsible for a devastating fire that killed 309 people last year in Luoyang of central China's Henan Province were sentenced in court Wednesday in Zhengzhou.The fire, which broke out in a four-story department store on December 25, trapped a group of people attending a Christmas party on the top floor, killing 309. Immediately after the incident -- the second largest fatal fire since the founding of New China in 1949 -- Chinese top leaders called for an immediate investigation into the case and urged swift punishment of those responsible. According to a verdict announced Wednesday by the Luoyang Intermediate People's Court, welder Wang Chengtai, whose shoddy work caused the fire, was sentenced to 13 years'imprisonment. Also named in the investigation as partly responsible were local officials in charge of public security, fire control, cultural administration, business and commercial management, and city construction. They were convicted of abuse of power and also received prison terms. Observers here believe that the severe sentences given to them demonstrate the Chinese government's strong determination to stop the all-too-frequent occurrence of safety-related tragedies nationwide, and to halt any form of production conducted at the cost of human lives. "The verdicts have sent a warning to the rest of the government officials and will help raise their awareness about the safety in production," said Sun Shanwu, secretary general of the Luoyang City Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. Wang Yanwu, president of the Henan Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, believed that the verdicts, reflecting the will of the people, fully show the spirit of ruling the country according to law. "Those who sacrifice people's lives for economic benefits should receive punishment strictly in accordance to law," he said. A number of large-scale safety-related accidents which occurred recently in China have prompted the government to take measures to prevent similar accidents from happening. These measures include closing down some small coal mines and fireworks manufacturing plants. Meanwhile, punishment has been intensified for government officials held responsible for the accidents. While handling the recent Nandan mine flooding case in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, five top officials of Nandan County have been either sacked or suspended for dereliction of duty. Two teams of investigators sent by the central government to look into the case found that the top officials of Nandan County were responsible for the flooding, which left 81 miners dead. So far, 77 bodies have been found. Since the founding of New China, especially since the reform and opening up, the Chinese government has attached great importance to safety in production, stipulating a series of laws and regulations in this regard. However, the desire for fast economic benefits and weak local supervision have bred the negligent attitute toward safety standards and resulted in a series of fatal accidents. In the first half of this year alone, 64 large-scale safety- related disasters occurred in China, claiming more than 1,200 lives. Investigations showed that the abuse of power and bureaucracy of some government officials were a major cause of the tragedies. In April this year, the Chinese government issued a regulation on handling extremely large-scale accidents of this nature, which clearly stipulates that officials held responsible for the accidents should receive administrative or legal punishment. Right after the issuing of the regulation, a group of officials of northwest China's Shaanxi Province involved in three large accidents, including governor Cheng Andong, were severely punished, which caught the public's attention. A major milestone with regard to safe production in the country came early this year with the formation of the State Administration for Safe Production Supervision and the Committee for Safety in Production under the State Council. The two organizations are expected to improve the situation in safe production in the country. |
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