Tianjin explosion accused sentenced

According to the Tianjin Supreme People’s Court, twenty-seven criminal trials arising from the giant accidental explosion in Tianjin on August 12, 2015 were heard at the Tianjin Second Intermediate People’s Court and nine grassroots level courts from Nov 7 to 9, with the accused found guilty and publically sentenced.

The accused included 24 directly responsible individuals and 25 others found guilty of failure to perform supervisory duties.

On August 12, 2015, dangerous goods in the warehouse of Ruihai International Logistics Co Ltd in Tianjin port exploded, causing 165 deaths, and injuring 798. Eight people remain missing. As of Dec 10, 2015, the accident had caused a loss of 6.87 billion yuan($999.64 million).

The courts’ investigations revealed that the Ruihai was mainly responsible for the accident as it ignored safety precautions and illegally built a dangerous goods storage yard which resulted in a potential safety hazard.

At the same time, staff in relevant departments including transport, port, customs, safety supervision, and planning illegally failed to properly carry out project reviews and didn’t supervise the company’s operations correctly. The chiefs of these departments were sentenced for dereliction, misuse of authority and bribe-taking.

The accused found directly responsible for the accident at trial. [Photo by Yue Yuewei/ Xinhua]

Eleven people from Tianjin-based Zhongbin Haisheng Health Safety Evaluation and Monitoring Co, Ltd bow to apologize. [Photo by Yue Yuewei/ Xinhua]

Yu Xuewei, chief executive of Ruihai International Logistics Co, Ltd enters the tribunal guided by police. [Photo by Yue Yuewei/ Xinhua]