The mayor of the northern Chinese city where huge explosions killed over 100 people last week took responsibility for the disaster on Wednesday, as the authorities sought to contain growing public anger fueled by mounting evidence that political malfeasance and rampant safety violations played a significant role in the disaster.
“I bear unshirkable responsibility for this accident as head of the city,” said Huang Xingguo, the mayor and acting Communist Party secretary of the metropolis, Tianjin, in his first news conference since the blasts occurred at a chemical warehouse on Aug. 12.
The authorities have said that the explosions killed 114 people and injured 674, and that more than 17,000 homes were damaged. Displaced residents have protested for days in Tianjin to demand that the government buy back their homes, which they say are now worthless.
The mayor’s appearance came as China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported that two major shareholders in the company that owns the warehouse, Rui Hai International Logistics, used their political connections to win government approvals for the site, despite clear violations of rules prohibiting the storage of hazardous chemicals within 3,200 feet of residential areas.
The two are Yu Xuewei, the company chairman and a former executive at a state-owned chemical company, and Dong Shexuan, the vice chairman and the son of a former police chief at the port where the warehouse is. The two executives, who deliberately concealed their ownership stakes behind a murky corporate structure, told Xinhua that they used their personal relationships with government officials to obtain licenses for the site. Both men have been detained.
“The first safety appraisal company said our warehouses were too close to the apartment building,” said Mr. Dong, 34, referring to a residential complex that was severely damaged and now stands empty. “Then we found another company who got us the documents we needed.”
The executives established Rui Hai in 2012 but had other people list their shares to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. Mr. Yu, 41, admitted that he held 55 percent of the shares through his cousin, Li Liang, the president of the company. Mr. Dong holds 45 percent of the shares through a former classmate.
“I had my schoolmate hold shares for me because of my father,” a former police chief for the Port of Tianjin who died in 2014, Mr. Dong told Xinhua. “If the news of me investing in a business leaked, it could have brought bad influence.”
On Wednesday, Mr. Huang promised a thorough and transparent investigation of Rui Hai.
“No matter who owns the company, what kind of connection there is, we will investigate until the end,” he said.
Other officials sought to dispel fears about the spread of nerve gas in Tianjin, which had been previously reported.
“We haven’t detected this substance,” said Wen Wurui, director of the city’s environmental protection bureau.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/20/w...column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
“I bear unshirkable responsibility for this accident as head of the city,” said Huang Xingguo, the mayor and acting Communist Party secretary of the metropolis, Tianjin, in his first news conference since the blasts occurred at a chemical warehouse on Aug. 12.
The authorities have said that the explosions killed 114 people and injured 674, and that more than 17,000 homes were damaged. Displaced residents have protested for days in Tianjin to demand that the government buy back their homes, which they say are now worthless.
The mayor’s appearance came as China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported that two major shareholders in the company that owns the warehouse, Rui Hai International Logistics, used their political connections to win government approvals for the site, despite clear violations of rules prohibiting the storage of hazardous chemicals within 3,200 feet of residential areas.
The two are Yu Xuewei, the company chairman and a former executive at a state-owned chemical company, and Dong Shexuan, the vice chairman and the son of a former police chief at the port where the warehouse is. The two executives, who deliberately concealed their ownership stakes behind a murky corporate structure, told Xinhua that they used their personal relationships with government officials to obtain licenses for the site. Both men have been detained.
“The first safety appraisal company said our warehouses were too close to the apartment building,” said Mr. Dong, 34, referring to a residential complex that was severely damaged and now stands empty. “Then we found another company who got us the documents we needed.”
The executives established Rui Hai in 2012 but had other people list their shares to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. Mr. Yu, 41, admitted that he held 55 percent of the shares through his cousin, Li Liang, the president of the company. Mr. Dong holds 45 percent of the shares through a former classmate.
“I had my schoolmate hold shares for me because of my father,” a former police chief for the Port of Tianjin who died in 2014, Mr. Dong told Xinhua. “If the news of me investing in a business leaked, it could have brought bad influence.”
On Wednesday, Mr. Huang promised a thorough and transparent investigation of Rui Hai.
“No matter who owns the company, what kind of connection there is, we will investigate until the end,” he said.
Other officials sought to dispel fears about the spread of nerve gas in Tianjin, which had been previously reported.
“We haven’t detected this substance,” said Wen Wurui, director of the city’s environmental protection bureau.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/20/w...column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
