8 sentenced for fatal expressway blast in central China

Eight people were sentenced on Friday for involvement in a deadly expressway explosion that collapsed a viaduct and killed 14 people in central China’s Henan Province in February 2013...


The blast occurred around 9 a.m. on February 1, 2013 when a truck loaded with 12.365 tonnes of illegal fireworks exploded on the Yichang Viaduct on the Lianhuo Expressway. 

The explosion caused the collapse of the 30-meter-high expressway viaduct in Mianchi County, Sanmenxia City, about 193 km west of the provincial capital of Zhengzhou.

Fourteen people, including the truck driver, were killed and another eight injured in the accident.

Zhang Genlin, Xue Yunfang and Zhai Gongchang were convicted of illegally manufacturing explosives and counterfeiting registered trademarks.

The Intermediate People’s Court of Sanmenxia City in Henan Province sentenced Zhang to death sentence with a two-year reprieve and fined him 200,000 yuan while Xue received life imprisonment and was fined 200,000 yuan. Zhai was given a 14-year jail term and was fined 100,000 yuan.

Besides one exempt from criminal punishment, the other four defendants were given jail terms ranging from three years with a three-year reprieve to three and a half years for causing an accident with dangerous substances and counterfeiting registered trademarks, according to the court.

Investigations found that the fireworks were produced by Pucheng Hongsheng Fireworks Limited, a fireworks producer registered in Pucheng County of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province. Zhang Genlin is the owner of the firm.

After Zhang signed a cooperative agreement with Xue in March 2012, they employed unqualified workers to participate in the company’s manufacturing, which is believed to have violated regulations. Zhai was in charge of the fireworks manufacturing workshop.

Tang Jinhu, Tang Xueqin and Guo Zhuanling from two local freight companies helped the fireworks company find a Hebei-registered truck to transport the large amount of fireworks.

The truck, unqualified to transport dangerous goods, was overloaded when the blast occurred, according to the court.

Zhang Genlin, Xue Yunfang, Zhai Gongchang and Zhang Baolin were also found selling fireworks bearing counterfeit registered trademarks, which totalled more than 400,000 yuan, the court said.

Zhang Genlin and Xue Yunfang said they would appeal in court.