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33 officials face penalties for fatal China restaurant blast

Xinhua, April 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

Thirty-three local government officials will be punished for their role in a fatal restaurant blast in east China's Anhui Province that killed 17 people in October 2015, local authorities said Wednesday.

The explosion occurred at noon on Oct. 10, 2015 in the restaurant on Yangjia alley, a popular snack street in Jinghu District of Wuhu City, about 350 kilometers west of Shanghai.

Liquefied gas leaked through a disconnected valve from a cylinder, coming into contact with fire and causing the explosion, according to an investigation report released by the Anhui provincial bureau of work safety on its official website.

The explosion left 17 people killed and resulted in direct economic losses of about 15.29 million yuan (2.36 million U.S. dollars).

Zhang Baoping, the owner of restaurant, is to blame for the accident for using worn-out cylinders and improperly handling the situation when leak occurred, the report said, suggesting Zhang be charged for criminal offenses.

The investigation team from the provincial bureau of work safety suggested four people from a local gas cylinder company, the supplier of the problematic cylinder in the accident, including the chairman, should be fined 60 percent of their incomes in 2014. It also suggested that the company should be fined 199,000 yuan.

The report also suggested 33 officials from the Jinghu District and the related departments in Wuhu City, including the director of the district, be given party or administrative punishments ranging from warning to removal from posts. Endi