Dozens of officials held accountable for fire that killed 42

Dozens of officials have been held accountable for a severe fire accident that occurred in Anyang, Henan province on Nov 21, which claimed 42 lives, an investigation group under the State Council said on Tuesday.

The investigation report approved by the executive meeting of the State Council found that the direct cause of the fire was the illegal operation of a company runner of Kaixinda Trade Co. The company runner illegally operated electric welding at the company's warehouse at the first floor of the building without any official permit. The high-temperature welding slags ignited the wrapping boxes and the polyurethane foam in the boxes exploded, causing the fire to spread quickly.

The fire-fighting facilities at the warehouse were in short supply, while the facilities at the second floor of the building were in failure due to man-caused reasons. The Shangxin Garment Co at the second floor of the building did not evacuate its workers soon after the fire broke out, causing the great casualties.

Sun Shougang, vice-governor of Henan, was found to be primarily responsible for the fire accident. He was given an inner-Party warning for giving inadequate guidance and poor supervision on local fire safety work.

The Henan public security department has taken compulsory criminal measures against eight people from the two companies. Another 58 officials involved in the accident were also held accountable, including three who were handed over to the local procuratorate for prosecution due to their dereliction of duties.

The investigation report said that the local authorities should plug the loopholes of fire safety of small and medium-sized companies, and should enhance the fire safety random examination to labor-intensive companies. It also said that the laws and regulations concerning fire safety should be improved and more professional firefighters should be trained to intensify grassroot-level fire safety mechanism.