123 people blamed for Tianjin blasts
Print Edition
CHINESE authorities have identified 123 people responsible for the Tianjin warehouse explosions in August that killed at least 165 people and caused direct economic losses of 6.87 billion yuan (US$1.1 billion).
Another 49 people, including 13 from Tianjin Ruihai International Logistics Co Ltd (Ruihai Logistics), owner of the warehouse, have already been put under “coercive measures” in line with the law, a State Council investigation team said in a report issued yesterday.
“Coercive measures” may include summons by force, bail, residential surveillance, detention and arrest.
After five months of investigation, the team concluded that the disaster — “an extraordinarily serious work safety accident” — was caused by the ignition of hazardous materials that had been improperly or illegally stored at the site.
The fire started in a container through auto-ignition of nitro-cotton due to vaporization of a wetting agent during hot weather, the team said, adding that when the fire spread it ignited other chemicals, including ammonium nitrate.
It said Ruihai Logistics had “illegally built a freight yard of hazardous materials, conducted illegal operations, illegally stored hazardous material and their safety management procedures were inept.”
The company’s executives were found to have exploited their connections and bribed local officials to get approvals, it added.
The investigation team suggested that 74 officials be subject to Communist Party of China disciplinary procedures, and 48 be admonished by their local discipline inspection commissions.
One other culpable person had died of natural causes during the course of the investigation, it said.
The report recommended that Ruihai’s licenses be revoked and company executives be banned from other executive posts in the sector.
The two explosions that ripped through the warehouse in Tianjin Port on August 12 claimed the lives of 99 firefighters among its 165 victims.
Eight people are still unaccounted for.
The explosions damaged 304 buildings, 12,428 cars and 7,533 containers.
Authorities are continuing to monitor and control pollution nearly six months after the explosions rocked the port, which is some 138 kilometers southeast of Beijing.
With a large amount of toxic chemicals such as ammonium nitrate and sodium cyanide stored at the site, the blasts had caused air, water and soil pollution in the core zone and surrounding areas, but did not affect the marine environment in Bohai Bay, where Tianjin is located, the report said.
“No people were poisoned or killed by the pollution,” the report said. “The negative impact on the air has basically been neutralized, while the polluted surface water has been appropriately disposed of.”
It said laws and regulations were widely flouted by a series of departments, including police and environmental protection agencies.
The blasts exposed slack safety management of hazardous chemicals, and the team made a number of suggestions for improving government supervision to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
It advised the central government to streamline port safety management, delimit responsibilities clearly, strictly implement city planning and tighten safety requirements.
The team also urged more scrutiny of intermediary organizations responsible for safety and environmental evaluations.
Fraudulent evaluation reports had allowed Ruihai Logistics to get operating permits, it said.
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