Officials say they take blame for Shanghai building fire
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Shanghai's Party secretary Yu Zhengsheng and the mayor Han Zheng said Thursday they took blame for the city's deadly fire that killed 58 people and injured 71 others on Nov. 15.
Yu said he took responsibility for three aspects, including responsibility of having not effectively carried out the reform of the construction market, responsibility of having not inspected the corruption that may have prevented the accident, and the responsibility for the weak points in cadre education.
On the surface it seemed to be simply a management problem of the construction site, but in fact it was the lack of awareness of work safety, Yu said.
Construction management will be rectified according to the six suggestions given by the State Council, or China's cabinet, Yu said.
The mayor also blamed himself in a speech at a meeting of senior Party and government officials of the municipality.
The fire will always pain the city, as it has caused great loss to people' lives and property, said Han, who blamed himself for not doing enough to implement construction-related laws, and oversight on the corruption in the construction market.
The municipal government announced that it had fired two officials Tuesday, including Zhang Renliang, head of Jing'an District, where the apartment building is located, and Xu Sunqing, deputy head of the district.
Vice Mayor Shen Jun, who is in charge of urban and rural construction and management, housing projects, land resources administration, water supplies, transport, and city landscaping as well as environmental protection, received a serious demerit.
A total of 26 people have been found criminally guilty in connection with the deadly fire and have been sent to judiciary institutions for punishment.
Another 28, including Vice Mayor Shen Jun, received administrative penalties or demerits in line with discipline of the Communist Party of China.
The blaze gutted the 28-story apartment building at Jiaozhou Road of Jing'an District, which was under renovation, after sparks from welding work ignited nylon netting and scaffolding. Of the 58 killed in the fire, 22 were men, including one Japanese citizen.
