Seven prosecuted over deadly Suzhou hotel collapse

Seven people have been prosecuted over the collapse of a hotel that claimed the lives of 17 people in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, in July, the province's disciplinary watchdogs said on Monday.

Twenty-three people were trapped when the Siji Kaiyuan hotel in Suzhou's Wujiang district collapsed during renovations. Seventeen died, five were injured and one walked away unscathed. Direct economic losses caused by the collapse were estimated at about 26 million yuan ($4 million).

The Work Safety Committee of the State Council formed a supervision team soon after the accident to monitor the investigation into its cause.

According to an investigation team formed by Jiangsu's provincial government, the hotel started structural renovations without applying for any construction permits, the province's commission for discipline inspection and supervisory commission said in a statement. Investigators also found the hotel had bribed some local officials to make the renovation possible.

The construction company's flawed renovation designs, chaotic management of the construction site and hiring of unprofessional workers to tear down walls contributed to the collapse, it said.

All the load-bearing transverse walls and most of the internal longitudinal walls of the six rooms on the ground floor were removed without any reinforcement or safety measures, which caused the hotel to collapse, the investigation concluded.

The hotel's owner, two hotel staff members and four people in charge of the wall demolition and renovation work, have been prosecuted. They face charges of causing a major accident, obstructing testimony and covering up a crime.

Twenty-five local officials have been punished, including nine from the district Party committee and government, nine from the local housing and urban-rural development department, four from the public security department and three from the urban management department.

Li Ming, the Party chief of Wujiang district, and Wang Guorong, the district head, were criticized in notices. Cases involving some other officials suspected of taking bribes and forging government documents have been transferred to the judiciary.