Those found responsible for tragedy deserve due punishment

Tragedy is a representation of action or inaction that is worthy of serious attention. That it took nearly 17 hours to put out the fire caused by an explosion at a chemical park in Xiangshui county in Yancheng, Jiangsu province, speaks volumes of the magnitude of the tragedy that claimed 47 lives, and left 90 people seriously injured and at least 500 hospitalized.

Although the investigation, coordinated by the central authorities, is still underway, the explosion, which ripped through the plant at 2:48 pm on Thursday, is likely to be identified as a serious accident caused by human negligence.

Over the past six years, three such accidents have happened - in a poultry farm in Changchun, Jilin province, in which 121 people died; a chemical company in Kunshan, Jiangsu, which claimed 146 lives; and a chemical warehouse in Tianjin, which killed 165 people. And like before, the owners and managers of the enterprise - Tianjiayi Chemical Company in this case - will be held accountable for the accident, and the local safety production supervisory department officials and their superiors hauled up for dereliction of duty.