SHANGHAI - A district official in charge of construction on Tuesday was sentenced to 16 years in jail after a high-rise building fire left 58 people dead and 71 others injured in Shanghai last year, court sources said.

Gao Weizhong, former director with the Construction and Transport Committee of Jing'an District, received the sentence for abuse of authority and corruption, according to the verdict issued by the No. 2 Intermediate People's Court of Shanghai Municipality.

The court said Gao took bribes up to 121,000 yuan (18,800 U.S. dollars) from 2004 to 2010 from construction companies and related businesses to arrange projects for those companies.

Twenty-five other suspects, including government officials involved in construction, managers of the construction, decoration and construction supervising companies and unlicensed welders, also received sentences ranging from 16 years to exemption from criminal punishment.

The trial, open to the public, was held from July 18 to 24, and the defendants did not mention whether they would appeal the rulings.

The fire last November on Jiaozhou Road engulfed the 28-story building that was being renovated at the time. The blaze was started by sparks from welding torches, which ignited nylon netting and scaffolding.