Policeman jailed for nightclub fire disaster

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-01-21 19:53

BEIJING -- A senior police officer was sentenced 11 years in prison for taking bribes and dereliction of duty in connection with a night club fire that killed dozens of people last year, local media said on Wednesday.

Undated file photo shows the Wuwang, or Dancing King, nightclub in Longgang district of Shenzhen city, South China's Guangdong province. Fireworks set off during a dance show at the club sparked a blaze that killed 44 people and injured at least 64 last September. [nddaily.com]

Fireworks set off during a dance show at an illegal night club in Longgang, a blue-collar area just across the border from Hong Kong, sparked a blaze that killed 44 people and injured at least 64 last September.

Investigations later found the club was unlicensed but had been allowed to stay in business despite being a den of illegal activities, the Southern Metropolitan Daily said in a report posted on its website (www.nddaily.com).

Chen Xuming, deputy chief of the Longgang Public Security Bureau, had been "seriously irresponsible in his work, and had made no effective crackdown on the unlicensed venue," the paper quoted the Yantian District People's Court in the southern city of Shenzhen as saying.

Chen had also received perks and taken 60,000 yuan (US$8,800) in bribes from the club's owners, the paper said.

Night clubs here have a grim record of fire safety. A fire at a karaoke club and bath-house in Tianshifu township in northeastern Liaoning province in 2007 killed at least 25 people and injured dozens.