10.10.2006

The way in China

Five men whose negligence is said to have caused an accident during the construction of the Beijing No 10 subway line, when the cable on a crane failed, killing three workers, have been jailed by the Beijing Chaoyang District People's Court.

According to the judgment, the first defendant Zhang Yuefa had arranged for the second defendant, his nephew, Wang Cheng, to act as the crane driver. But Wang, a minor, did not have any professional training and held a falsified crane drivers licence.

"Zhang arranged for workers to operate the crane when he knowing that there were safety problems. His behaviour resulted in the accident directly," the court said.

The third defendant Yang Shukai signed a document assuring the safety of the crane when, according to the court, he knew it had safety problems.

The fourth defendant Li Yingping was chief of the equipment department of the construction site. He also signed a document confirming the safety of the crane after only a brief inspection.

The fifth defendant Xiang Shan, a maintenance worker, failed to report or record problems with the crane.

The court said Zhang, Yang, Li and Xiang failed to adopt effective measures to tackle safety issues, which resulted in the accident.

The four were sentenced to imprisonment of between one and two years respectively for negligently causing a serious accident.

Crane driver Wang was sentenced to eight months for the same crime all five defendants said they would not appeal to any higher court.