Results of the investigation report on the Aug. 12 blast at a warehouse in Tianjin Province, released on Friday, blamed more than 120 people as responsible for the explosion that killed 165 people.
With the report out, authorities arrested 49 people and continue with criminal investigation of 24 employees of companies related to Tianjin International Ruihai Logistics Co. (TIRL), owner of the warehouse. There are 13 also from TIRL included in the probe, reported China Daily.
Outside TIRL, the investigation also includes 25 port, custom, work safety and transportation sector officials. The investigation tea of the State Council recommended disciplinary sanctions on 74 people, five of whom are ministerial level for causing the man-made disaster, reported CCTV America.
The Tianjin Binhai New Area explosion injured 798 people, while eight people remain missing. The estimate of economic losses is over 6.8 billion yuan ($1.03 billion). According to the team, hazardous materials improperly or illegally stored in the warehouse caused the auto-ignition of nitro-cotton when the wetting agent, because of the summer heat, vaporized and caused fire which spread and lit other chemicals, including 800 tons of ammonium nitrate.
For Du Lanping, head of the team’s technical group, it was illegal of TIRL to store a large amount of chemicals on its warehouse because of the high risks involved. Li Wanchun, who heads the management group of the probe team, agreed with Du’s assessment. He also blamed the Tianjin Transportation Commission which has oversight powers over TIRL for not conducting safety checks on top of lapses in inspections.
“We found some people in the city’s Planning Bureau and Land Department allegedly helped the company illegally get the planning permits and made fake certificates in safety and environmental assessments,” Li said as he accused of government officials of accepting bribes and abusing their authority.