[February 20, 2006] China to prosecute another four persons for fatal hospital fire in NE. city Tweet (Comtex Community Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)CHANGCHUN, Feb 20, 2006 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Another four persons will be prosecuted on charges of selling unqualified electrical cables that constituted a cause of a fatal hospital fire killing 39 people in the northeastern city of Liaoyuan last December, local authorities said on Monday. The fire broke out at about 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 15, 2005, in the City Central Hospital of Liaoyuan, about 120 km southwest of Changchun, capital of Jilin Province, and raged for more than five hours before it was put out. The fire burnt some 5,000 square meters of houses in four buildings of the newly-decorated hospital, also the largest hospital in Liaoyuan. Investigation shows that the hospital used unqualified electrical cables that failed to meet safety standards in decoration, and local police therefore detained four persons found to be related with the sale of these cables. The four included a shop owner named Du Jisuo, who did electrical cables business in Liaoyuan, a manager named Song Shugang of an electrical cables company in Shenyang, capital of Northeast China's Liaoning Province, another electrical cables company manager named Wei Xueying in Shenyang, and Wang Erxing, a man without fixed jobs who was also involved in the sales. The four will face prosecutions, said local authorities. Previously, the local authorities have decided to prosecute four persons on charges of committing a major offence. Investigations by local police showed that the fire was caused by human error in handling a sudden power failure, and Zhang Diankun, who was head of the hospital's electricians team and was on duty then, was detained. Probes also showed that disorderly and wrongly placed electrical cables on the ground at the electrical distribution room of the hospital were another cause of the fire. Therefore, three other persons who were found to be responsible for the disorderly electrical distribution room will be charged with committing a major offence together with Zhang, local authorities said. To date, local police have detained 11 people in connection with the hospital fire, including the president and vice president of the hospital, who will face charges of dereliction of duties, according to the provincial public security bureau. The two heads of the hospital did not report to the local firefighting department until 30 minutes after the fire broke out, according to the provincial fire prevention department. The Liaoyuan hospital fire was the most disastrous one in a Chinese medical institution since 1949, Health Minister Gao Qiang had said. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]