28th November, 2016
Chinese authorities have arrested nine executives for criminal negligence in the collapse of scaffold at a power plant construction site that killed 74 workers, state media reported on Monday.
According to media reports, the suspects include the chairman of Hebei Yineng, the construction company responsible for the alleged hasty building work in the south-eastern China city of Fengcheng.
Meanwhile, workers had been under time pressure.
Police had also arrested the Hebei Yineng project general engineer and two safety supervision directors from Shanghai Sinaidi engineering consulting company.
The accident took place on Thursday in Jiangxi province when a platform carrying about 60 workers collapsed inside a circular cooling tower.
However, 68 victims had been identified by Thursday, the report said, adding that the youngest victim was aged 23 and the oldest 53.
Previous reports cited 13 detentions, while Monday’s report did not indicate if the nine were part of that total.
On Sunday, Chinese authorities ordered safety watchdogs to launch a nationwide work safety check to plug gaps in safety standards.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said local governments must learn from the accident and hold accountable anyone responsible.
No fewer than two people died in an explosion at a thermal power plant in east China’s Shandong province on Nov. 8.
Similar accidents have occurred since a chemical warehouse in the port city of Tianjin went up in huge fireball blasts in August 2015, killing no fewer than 173 people.
Report says street demonstrations by citizens who oppose the construction of power plants for safety and environmental reasons have been on the rise in China in recent years.