China arrests city officials over warehouse explosion which killed 145

Prosecutors have detained 11 public officials over the Tianjin warehouse explosion which killed at least 145 people in China’s worst industrial disaster in recent years. They included the head of the transportation commission Wu Dai, and Zheng Qingyue, the boss of the company which runs the port in the city. All the government officials are accused of dereliction of duty and abusing their positions, the prosecutor’s office said. Another 12 company executives, mostly from Ruihai International Logistics, which owned the warehouse that blew up, have been formally detained.

Those arrested failed to take strong measures in response to the Ruihai company’s illegal and unregulated actions, did not assiduously carry out their duties and issued business permits in violations of rules

China’s national prosecutor’s office

The August 12 explosions at the warehouse owned by Ruihai was the deadliest ever for the emergency services, with 115 police and firefighters among the dead and missing. The investigation has focused on how the warehouse gained permission to handle sodium cyanide and other dangerous chemicals despite being located inside a legally-mandated 1,000m buffer zone from homes and roads. The investigation has found that the warehouse was storing more chemicals than it was equipped to handle and kept some in a loading zone rather than storing them securely.

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