On the afternoon of April 23, the Shanxi Provincial Emergency Management Department released the investigation report on the "11.16" major fire accident of Lvliang Yongju Coal Industry.
According to the report, the direct cause of the accident was a short circuit in the power supply line of the hanging basket in the bathroom dressing room, which ignited the combustible materials in the hanging basket. Eighteen people were taken criminal coercive measures, and 42 public officials, including Wang Maosheng, deputy director of the Provincial Energy Bureau, and secretary of the Luliang Municipal Party Committee, were seriously held accountable.
The fire rescue scene of Yongju Coal Industry Joint Building in Luliang City. Source: Xinhua News Agency
At about 6:30 on November 16, 2023, a fire broke out in the bathroom on the second floor of the Yongju Coal Industry Joint Construction Building, Lishi District, Luliang City, resulting in 26 deaths and 38 injuries, with a fire area of about 900 square meters and a direct economic loss of 49.9026 million yuan.
According to the investigation report, the direct cause of the fire was the damage and short circuit of the insulation layer of the main power supply line of the motor above the No. 0625 hanging basket in the large changing basket of the wellhead bathroom on the second floor, which was damaged and short-circuited, igniting the combustibles in the hanging basket below. There are a large number of flammable, combustible, and combustible items such as clothes, shoes, raincoats, and oxygen self-rescuers in hanging baskets and lockers.
The investigation determined that the fire was a production safety liability accident caused by the failure to implement the main responsibility of enterprise safety, the installation of electric hanging baskets in excess of the limit, the illegal laying of hanging basket power supply lines, the illegal storage of miner's lamps, oxygen self-rescuers, self-spraying paint and other combustible materials in the wellhead bathroom, the chaotic safety management, the short circuit of the hanging basket power supply line ignited the combustibles in the hanging basket, the initial fire disposal was not effective, and the local party committee and government and relevant departments did not perform their duties in place.
According to the report, the Shanxi Provincial Public Security Bureau has taken criminal coercive measures against 18 enterprise personnel suspected of violating the law and committing crimes, including Wang Qingbin, general manager and legal representative of Yongju Coal Industry (who has actually been transferred from his post), Han Wenming, the actual person in charge, and Ma Feng, the mine manager.
The Shanxi Provincial Discipline Inspection and Supervision Organs strictly held accountable 42 public officials of the Party committees and governments of Luliang City, Lishi District, and Chengbei Sub-districts, as well as the departments of energy, housing and construction, fire rescue, natural resources, emergency management, and mine supervision, in accordance with regulations, discipline, and law.
According to the CCTV news client, Wang Maosheng, a member of the party group and deputy director of the Shanxi Provincial Energy Bureau, is under review and investigation on suspicion of serious violations of discipline and law; Sun Hongyong, secretary of the Party Working Committee of Chengbei Sub-district of Lishi District, Luliang City, and Feng Penghu, deputy director of the Chengbei Sub-district Office, have been expelled from the party and dismissed from public office for serious violations of discipline and law, and have been transferred to the judicial organs for examination and prosecution.
At the same time, 39 public officials of the party committees and governments of Luliang City, Lishi District, and Chengbei sub-districts, as well as the departments of energy, housing and construction, fire rescue, natural resources, emergency management, and mine supervision, were seriously dealt with in the accident.
Among them, Sun Dajun, secretary of the Luliang City CPC Committee, was admonished; Zhang Guangyong, deputy secretary of the Luliang City CPC Committee and mayor, was given an administrative warning; Lian Haiping, secretary of the Lishi District CPC Committee, was given a serious warning within the party; Zhang Haiwen, deputy secretary of the Lishi District CPC Committee and head of the district, was given the punishment of having a serious administrative record; Gao Yanlong, former secretary of the party committee and director of the Luliang City Emergency Management Bureau, was expelled from the party and dismissed from government affairs; and the former party secretary of the Luliang City Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau was given Qu Xiaodong, director of the bureau, was given a serious warning within the party, and other relevant responsible persons were given party discipline and government sanctions or organizational punishment.
Wang Maosheng data map
The governor of Chang'an Street noticed that on April 10, Wang Maosheng, a member of the party group and deputy director of the Shanxi Provincial Energy Bureau, officially announced that he was investigated.
Wang Maosheng was born in December 1968, a native of Jincheng, Shanxi, and has worked in the coal field for a long time, serving as Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Shanxi Coking Coal Group Co., Ltd., and taking office in the new Provincial Energy Bureau in June 2020. (According to the Governor of Chang'an Street)