Senior officials punished for Jiangxi fire that killed 39

Some senior officials and others responsible for the serious fire that caused 39 deaths and nine injuries at a complex building in Xinyu, Jiangxi province, in January were punished according to law, Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday.

Ren Zhufeng, vice-governor of Jiangxi in charge of safe production and civil air defense work, was given a disciplinary warning within the Party for failing to supervise fire prevention in the basement where the blaze happened.

Chen Min, secretary-general of Jiangxi and former vice-governor in charge of housing and urban-rural development, was given a severe disciplinary warning within the Party for neglecting the illegal construction and regulatory loopholes in constructing cold storage facilities, the two causes of the fire.

Sun Hongshan, vice-governor of Jiangxi in charge of education, was also given a severe disciplinary warning within the Party for failing to oversight the safety risks and supervision of the educational industry.

The result was submitted by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China.

The public security organs in Jiangxi have initiated investigations against 10 individuals suspected of serious liability accident crimes, including those in charge of construction of the cold storage facility and the educational institute.

The discipline inspection and supervision organs in Jiangxi have conducted serious accountability probes against 55 officials suspected of violating discipline and laws in the incident, China Central Television reported.

Three officials are under investigation for serious violations of discipline and laws as well as duty-related crimes, two of whom were transferred to the procuratorial organs for review and prosecution.

Additionally, 52 officials in relevant departments who were found to have issues of negligence and dereliction of duty in the incident were punished, with most being removed from their posts.