Twenty-four people will stand trial for their involvement in
China's worst bridge collapse, which killed 64 people and injured
22, China's State Council said yesterday.
The accident happened on August 13 when a bridge over the
Tuojiang River in Fenghuang County, Hunan Province, collapsed. The
328-meter-long, 42-meter-high structure was still under
construction at the time of the accident.
A total of 152 workers were working at the four-arch bridge when
it fell apart, and about 120 workers were dismantling steel
scaffolding off the bridge, which was scheduled to open to traffic
at the end of the month. Construction started in March 2004.
"This is a severe man-made accident," said a statement released
from an executive meeting of the State Council. The meeting
accepted recommendations of the special panel set up to investigate
the accident concerning the punishments of people and organizations
responsible.
It demanded that the Hunan provincial government must prosecute
24 people on criminal charges and take disciplinary action against
officials who should assume "leadership responsibilities."
Previous reports said the police detained Xia Youjia, a
construction manager, and Jiang Ping, a project supervisor, shortly
after the accident happened.
Conclusions of the special panel and punishments handed out
should be made public, the statement said.
Workers had been worried about possible collapse. "The bridge
has a rather wide span," said an injured worker named Long
Shaozhong.
Long said he and other workers had a feeling that construction
was proceeding too quickly, especially when they dismantled all the
scaffolding before the concrete had completely dried.
Caijing magazine reported that an anonymous expert said
geological surveys before construction were not thoroughly carried
out. The expert said a big grotto was found where the main pier was
located.
(Xinhua News Agency December 8, 2007)