Courts send 49 to prison for massive Tianjin warehouse blasts that killed 165
Courts in Tianjin sentenced 49 people to prison on Wednesday - including 24 company managers and staff and 25 government officials - who were found guilty of crimes that led to the devastating warehouse blasts that killed at least 165 people in August 2015.
The suspects were tried by the Second Intermediate People's Court of Tianjin and nine other grassroots courts between Nov 7 and 9. All suspects agreed with the verdicts and expressed remorse as the rulings were read, sources with the Tianjin High People's Court said.
On Aug 12, 2015, a series of explosions ripped through a warehouse of Ruihai Logistics Co in Tianjin Port, leaving 165 dead, eight missing and 798 injured. The blasts also damaged 304 buildings, 12,428 cars, and 7,533 containers, with total economic losses of 6.87 billion yuan ($1.01 billion).
