Two jailed for Tianjin shopping mall fire

The Tianjin government announced the results of the trial related to a fire in a shopping mall in the city last June.

The mall’s controller, Yao Haili, was sentenced to six years in jail and Yao Xueliang, the mall’s legal representative, was sentenced to four years in jail.

Six other people involved in the case, including the mall’s deputy managers, electrician and former staff from the local fire brigade, were also held criminally liable, according to the government.

Nine people including the head of the local business committee and the deputy head of the local public security bureau were also given disciplinary sanctions.

The fire engulfed a five-story mall in Jixian county in North China’s Tianjin municipality in June, killing 10 and injuring 16.

According to the police in Tianjin, a short circuit was the major reason behind the fire.

The government pledged to further boost the fire safety responsibility system and draw lessons from the incident to prevent similar tragedies from happening.