Graft link in deadly TV studio blaze
By Wang Xiang |
March 16, 2010, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A DEADLY blaze that engulfed a hotel at the new headquarters of China Central Television in Beijing last year was more a man-made disaster as suspects related to the fire confessed in court that corruption and mismanagement were rife.
Xu Wei, an engineer with CCTV, told the court that a middleman, Song Zeyuan, who connected him with a fireworks company, could have received more than 100,000 yuan (US$14,649) in kickbacks from the 350,000-yuan deal if it were not for the blaze that killed a firefighter and injured eight others, the Beijing Times reported yesterday.
Prosecutors said Xu decided to have a 20-minute firework show on February 9, 2009, to celebrate the traditional Chinese Lantern Festival despite regulations that banned fireworks in downtown Beijing.
Xu said he had not heard of such a ban and took it for granted to order the show, Beijing No.2 Intermediate People's Court heard.
He said he did not check the qualifications of the firework company to make sure it was capable of pulling off such a grand show but agreed anyway.
Police investigations found that three of the workers who operated the fireworks that day had no license to operate pyrotechnics.
Sluggish security measures at the construction site were also to blame for the fire, the court was told.
When 1,432 display shells and 80 compound fireworks were transferred into the construction site of the unfinished hotel, nobody tried to check them, Xu said.
After the show began, traffic police tried to stop the fireworks after they caused traffic congestion, but Xu told officers the show was almost over and refused to shut it down.
But before the fireworks came to an end, a spark lit up a low-quality thermal insulation board on the building and triggered a huge fire that was investigated for more than a year.
Twenty-one suspects are being tried in court, with a former report identifying seven employees and six others with the construction company. They are charged with causing an accident with dangerous goods.
The State Council, the nation's Cabinet, ordered CCTV to pay a 3-million-yuan fine over the fire.
Xu Wei, an engineer with CCTV, told the court that a middleman, Song Zeyuan, who connected him with a fireworks company, could have received more than 100,000 yuan (US$14,649) in kickbacks from the 350,000-yuan deal if it were not for the blaze that killed a firefighter and injured eight others, the Beijing Times reported yesterday.
Prosecutors said Xu decided to have a 20-minute firework show on February 9, 2009, to celebrate the traditional Chinese Lantern Festival despite regulations that banned fireworks in downtown Beijing.
Xu said he had not heard of such a ban and took it for granted to order the show, Beijing No.2 Intermediate People's Court heard.
He said he did not check the qualifications of the firework company to make sure it was capable of pulling off such a grand show but agreed anyway.
Police investigations found that three of the workers who operated the fireworks that day had no license to operate pyrotechnics.
Sluggish security measures at the construction site were also to blame for the fire, the court was told.
When 1,432 display shells and 80 compound fireworks were transferred into the construction site of the unfinished hotel, nobody tried to check them, Xu said.
After the show began, traffic police tried to stop the fireworks after they caused traffic congestion, but Xu told officers the show was almost over and refused to shut it down.
But before the fireworks came to an end, a spark lit up a low-quality thermal insulation board on the building and triggered a huge fire that was investigated for more than a year.
Twenty-one suspects are being tried in court, with a former report identifying seven employees and six others with the construction company. They are charged with causing an accident with dangerous goods.
The State Council, the nation's Cabinet, ordered CCTV to pay a 3-million-yuan fine over the fire.
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