Prison terms issued over deadly 2023 Shanxi coal company fire

A court in northern China has sentenced 13 people to prison over a deadly fire at a coal mine company's building in Lyuliang, Shanxi province that killed 26 people and injured 38 others.

The blaze broke out in the early hours of Nov 16, 2023 in a bathroom on the second floor of a dormitory and bathhouse building owned by Yongju Coal Industry in Lyuliang city. The fire, which spread across an area of about 900 square meters, resulted in losses of almost 50 million yuan ($7 million).

An investigation found the disaster was the result of serious safety violations, which included the illegal installation of electrically operated hanging baskets, unsafe wiring, and the storage of flammable materials such as mine lamps, oxygen self-rescuers and spray paint inside the bathroom. A short circuit in the hanging baskets' power supply ignited combustible items, while poor initial fire-fighting efforts allowed the blaze to spread.

On Monday, Lishi District People's Court in Lyuliang convicted 10 people connected to the coal mine and supervising authorities, including Yongju company head Han Wenming, of causing a major labor safety accident. The 10 received prison sentences ranging from one year and three months to four years and six months.

Three others, including Chen Ruiqiang, the head of a company that supplied and installed the hanging baskets, were found guilty of causing a major engineering safety accident. They were sentenced to prison terms of between two years and three months and three years and three months, as well as being hit with fines.