Off the wire
• Southern Chinese city offers huge rewards to airline companies  • Iranian foreign minister to visit China  • Full Text: Xi's congratulatory letter to symposium on UN development right declaration  • Sino-U.S. friendship photo exhibition held in Houston  • Leading goal scorers of French Ligue 1  • Iconic Australian wallaby believed extinct for 20 years brought back  • Nigeria wins 2016 Africa Women Cup of Nations  • Xi congratulates opening of symposium on UN development right declaration  • Spotlight: Fidel Castro to be remembered by Cubans, world people  • Armed groups renew attacks on military post in N. Myanmar: authorities  
You are here: 　 Home

Couple convicted for fatal China restaurant blast

Xinhua, December 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

A couple who ran a restaurant in east China's Anhui Province will serve prison terms for their role in a fatal blast that killed 17 people in October 2015, a local court said Sunday.

Zhang Baoping and Diao Shancui, husband and wife, were found guilty of causing an accident with dangerous substances, and sentenced to seven years, and three years, respectively. Both lodged an appeal after the verdict.

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.

Due to negligence, liquefied gas leaked through a disconnected valve from a cylinder, which came into contact with fire and caused the explosion, according to the court.

An official investigation report said Zhang was to blame as he used worn-out cylinders and did not properly handle the situation when the leak occurred.

Even though the couple turned themselves in, Zhang was not given a lighter punishment, his wife, however, was given a lesser punishment.

Thirty-three officials from Jinghu District and related departments in Wuhu City, including the director of the district, were given party or administrative punishments ranging from warnings to removal from posts in April. Endi