3 men get longer sentences in TV tower fire

Three men already serving prison terms for using inferior and combustible material to build a CCTV tower had their sentences extended after a retrial on Wednesday.

Tang Zhuchuang, vice-president of the Guangdong-based materials company, project manager Gu Xianshu, and quality controller Li Shuzhi each had three to four more years added to their respective sentences, according to Beijing's No 2 Intermediate People's Court.

In an earlier trial, they were sentenced to two and a half to four and a half years.

The three men were charged with using flammable insulation on the outer walls of the CCTV tower, which was destroyed in a 2009 fire. The blaze killed one person and injured eight others.

The court said the three men were responsible for 160 million yuan ($25 million) of losses.

Those who sell fake products worth more than 500,000 yuan should be sentenced to at least seven years, according to China's Criminal Law.