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Port executive sacked over Tianjin blasts

Xinhua, November 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

A senior port executive has been sacked for alleged neglect of duty in the Tianjin warehouse explosions that killed at least 139 people, according to an official statement released on Wednesday.

Zheng Qingyue, president of state-owned Tianjin Port(Group) Co. Ltd, will also be removed from his position as director of the Tianjin International Trade and Shipping Center, according to a statement posted on the municipal government's official website.

Zheng, together with his assistant Li Hongfeng and the deputy chief of the company's safety supervision department, will face criminal prosecution for dereliction of duty, it said.

Government investigations found the port had neglected safety oversight duties and blamed it for poor regulation of Tianjin Ruihai International Logistics Co. Ltd where the blasts happened, it said.

Two blasts ripped through a warehouse in Tianjin Port, where large amounts of toxic chemicals were stored, including around 700 tonnes of sodium cyanide, at around 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 12. Endit