Dozens held responsible for collapse

Property owner, public officials are at fault in Hunan accident that killed 54

The collapse of a self-constructed building in Hunan province that killed 54 people last year was an "especially serious production safety liability accident" caused by the property owner's illegal construction and operation, as well as local governments' irresponsibility and buck-passing, which led to major long-term safety hazards, an investigation said on Sunday.

The results of the investigation into the case were released on Sunday afternoon by an investigation team launched by the State Council, China's Cabinet. Meanwhile, 66 public officials, including four provincial-level officials, were held accountable to varying degrees for the accident.

According to a news release from the investigation team, the accident that occurred in April last year in the Wangcheng district of Hunan's Changsha city left 54 people dead and nine injured, and caused a direct economic loss of 90.78 million yuan ($13.9 million).

The original five-story building, built illegally by the property owner, was built poorly to begin with, with an unreasonable structure, weak stability and low load-bearing capacity, the investigation found. After the illegal construction of three additional floors, the load increased even more dramatically, exceeding the structure's maximum load capacity and ultimately leading to the total collapse of the building, according to the statement.

The investigation concluded that the governments of Hunan province, Changsha city and Wangcheng district, and relevant departments had various problems, including the slow and perfunctory implementation of crackdowns on illegal construction.

In July 2020, a yearlong inspection of illegal construction was launched across the nation, while the governments of Changsha city and Wangcheng district began carrying out inspections half a year later and one year later, respectively — quite near the deadline of the nationwide campaign, the leader of the investigation team said.

"There was no time[for them] to carry out the inspections, and they reported seriously false data," the statement said.

The investigation found that a substantial number of illegally constructed houses were not included in the management and supervision of the housing authorities of Changsha and Wangcheng.

Based on the results, the investigation team concluded that officials from the Hunan, Changsha and Wangcheng governments were responsible for the accident.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China and the National Supervisory Commission imposed penalties on four senior officials, namely Hu Henghua, Chen Wenhao, Wu Guiying and Hu Zhongxiong. From 2013 to 2021, they served in key Party and government positions, such as Changsha's mayor and Party chief, in relation to leading the urban construction and inspection work. They were given intra-Party warnings and demerits.

Another 62 public local officials suspected of violating laws and regulations around the accident were held accountable by the Hunan provincial discipline inspection authorities.

Four public officials, including Zhou Zhengmao, former deputy head of the Wangcheng government, had their cases transferred to judicial organs for serious violations of discipline and law and suspected duty crimes.

The other 58 public officials received various punishments. Changsha Mayor Zheng Jianxin, for example, was removed from his position. In addition, 14 people, including Wu Zhiyong, the owner of the building, were investigated by the police and prosecuted by procuratorial organs on accusations of committing major liability accidents, providing false certification documents and picking quarrels and provoking trouble.