Four face criminal probe in Chengdu tower crane collapse, 12 officials punished

Four people have been placed under criminal investigation, and 12 public officials have been held accountable following a fatal tower crane collapse in Chenghua district of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, the provincial discipline inspection and supervision authorities announced on Monday.

The incident occurred on Sept 1 at a new residential project known as Zhenlizhu, killing five people and causing direct economic losses of 13.63 million yuan ($1.95 million). An investigation team led by the provincial government was established to probe the case.

Four individuals, including a deputy project manager and safety supervisor, a safety supervision engineer, general manager of the tower crane dismantling company, and a tower crane assembly and disassembly worker, have been placed under criminal investigation on suspicion of causing a major liability accident, according to a notice released on the official WeChat account of the Sichuan Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Commission of Supervision.

Twelve public officials from several units, including the Chenghua district committee of the Communist Party of China, the Chenghua district government, the district's housing, construction and transportation bureau, and Chengdu's housing and urban-rural development bureau, have been punished for dereliction of duty in the accident, the notice said.

The punishments include administrative demerits, removal from posts, intra-Party warnings, administrative warnings, criticism, and education.

An investigation report, released on Monday by the Sichuan provincial department of emergency management, showed that the accident was a work safety liability incident caused by multiple failures.

Investigators attributed the accident to the responsible enterprises' failure to fulfill their primary responsibility for work safety, flawed construction plans, violations of operating procedures, and superficial safety briefings and training.

Relevant government departments, as well as the local Party committee and government, were also found responsible for inadequate safety oversight.

The direct cause was the improper placement of a critical pin during the tower crane dismantling process, which led to structural overload and collapse, the report said.