Shanghai High-Rise Inferno Trial Ends With 23 Sent to Jail

Shanghai Daily reports on the sentencing of those found responsible for the city’s high-rise fire last November. The charges included graft and abuse of power, as unqualified companies received renovation contracts in exchange for bribes.

The former head of a district construction authority was sentenced to jail for 16 years yesterday in Shanghai on graft charges, highlighting the conclusion of a trial over last November’s high-rise inferno that killed 58 people ….

A total of 26 people were charged in the case, and 23 are headed to jail ….

The Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court found that unlicensed welders employed by the project contractor caused the fire when stray sparks from their equipment ignited materials on scaffolding around the building. But the welders were given reprieves by the court. One of them, Wu Guolue, charged with major accident liability, was sentenced to jail for one year with a two-year reprieve. The other, Wang Yongliang, was exempted from criminal punishment ….

In addition to the criminal offenses, 28 officials and company workers received Party or administrative penalties.

See also CDT posts on the fire itself and reactions to it from Han Han, the public and the government.

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