Escalator firm fined for mishap
Source: Xinhua |
November 26, 2011, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THREE branches of the US-based Otis Elevator Company in China will be fined for a deadly July accident at a Beijing subway station that was caused by a malfunctioning Otis-produced escalator, local authorities said yesterday.
An ascending escalator on Beijing Subway Line 4, an Otis 513 MPE, reversed suddenly, killing a 13-year-old boy and injuring 30 other people on July 5.
Guangzhou Otis Elevator Co Ltd, Beijing Otis Elevator Co Ltd and their parent company, Tianjin-based Otis Elevator (China) Investment Co Ltd, will be fined 200,000 yuan (US$31,250), 200,000 yuan and 100,000 yuan, respectively, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Quality and Technological Supervision announced in a statement.
The company's Guangzhou branch, which produced the escalator that malfunctioned, and Beijing branch, which is in charge of daily maintenance on the escalator, should shoulder the major liability for the accident, the bureau said, citing an investigation panel of the municipal government.
The Tianjin branch failed to issue relevant papers on technological standards about the escalator in a timely manner and should shoulder the secondary liability, the bureau said.
The workers with the Beijing branch who were in charge of the daily maintenance of the escalator will have their work permits revoked, and investigators suggested judicial authorities prosecute two of them suspected of breaking criminal law, the statement said.
A total of 177 Otis escalators at Beijing subway stations have had operations suspended in the wake of the July accident, and Otis is taking measures to ensure that all those escalators will be put back into operation before the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls next January 23, the statement said.
China has become the world's largest user of elevators and escalators, maintaining 1.63 million in service, and the number is increasing by 20 percent annually, official statistics show.
The country launched a nationwide safety-check campaign after the accident in Beijing. By the end of July, the country's quality watchdogs had inspected 231,306 escalators and elevators and found that 11,896 had potential safety problems, authorities said.
An ascending escalator on Beijing Subway Line 4, an Otis 513 MPE, reversed suddenly, killing a 13-year-old boy and injuring 30 other people on July 5.
Guangzhou Otis Elevator Co Ltd, Beijing Otis Elevator Co Ltd and their parent company, Tianjin-based Otis Elevator (China) Investment Co Ltd, will be fined 200,000 yuan (US$31,250), 200,000 yuan and 100,000 yuan, respectively, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Quality and Technological Supervision announced in a statement.
The company's Guangzhou branch, which produced the escalator that malfunctioned, and Beijing branch, which is in charge of daily maintenance on the escalator, should shoulder the major liability for the accident, the bureau said, citing an investigation panel of the municipal government.
The Tianjin branch failed to issue relevant papers on technological standards about the escalator in a timely manner and should shoulder the secondary liability, the bureau said.
The workers with the Beijing branch who were in charge of the daily maintenance of the escalator will have their work permits revoked, and investigators suggested judicial authorities prosecute two of them suspected of breaking criminal law, the statement said.
A total of 177 Otis escalators at Beijing subway stations have had operations suspended in the wake of the July accident, and Otis is taking measures to ensure that all those escalators will be put back into operation before the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls next January 23, the statement said.
China has become the world's largest user of elevators and escalators, maintaining 1.63 million in service, and the number is increasing by 20 percent annually, official statistics show.
The country launched a nationwide safety-check campaign after the accident in Beijing. By the end of July, the country's quality watchdogs had inspected 231,306 escalators and elevators and found that 11,896 had potential safety problems, authorities said.
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