Deadly care home blaze sparks charges
Print Edition
A fire that killed 39 senior citizens could have been prevented, say prosecutors.
Officials in Lushan County in central China’s Henan Province have been charged with abuse of power and dereliction of duty after a fire burned down a care home, Procuratorial Daily reported yesterday.
The deadly fire broke out at privately owned Kangleyuan Rest Home at 7:30pm on May 25, 2015. It killed 39 of the home’s 51 residents and injured six others. Officials say the victims were too frail to escape the blaze, which was put out in less than an hour.
A preliminary investigation showed substandard construction work and lax safety supervision were the main causes behind the fire, which covered about 745 square meters and caused 20.6 million yuan (US$3.16 million) in damage.
Investigations showed that the charred bungalows had been built with steel sheets stuffed with flammable material. The fire exits of the burned buildings were also poorly designed.
Tie Jiuwei, former subsection chief of Lushan County’s civil affairs bureau, was charged by Lushan County People’s Procuratorate with abuse of power. According to the procuratorate, Tie failed to have the rest home properly inspected before granting it permission to operate.
Three other officials were charged with dereliction of duty.
Wang Zhanwen, a former member of the bureau’s party committee, allegedly failed to order the rest home to renovate temporary bungalows built with unsafe materials to bring them up to standard.
The court said Liang Kai, former chief of Lushan County’s firefighting team, failed to properly enforce fire regulations.
Zhang Jingui, former deputy chief of Lushan County’s land and resources bureau, allegedly failed to act after finding out that the rest home had been been building illlegal structures on land it had no legal right to occupy.
The investigation continues.
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