In the early morning of April 7, 2023
A fire broke out in a small area in Fengtai District, Beijing
Two people were killed and one wounded
The cause of the fire was:
During e-bike battery charging
Caused by thermal runaway ignition of surrounding combustibles
Zhou, who took the battery home to charge
Charged by the prosecution with the crime of arson
Bringing the EV battery home to charge it caused a fire
The man was sentenced to four years and six months in prison
April 22, 2024
The reporter learned from the China Judgment Network
The case was decided in the first and second instance
Defendant Zhou X committed the crime of arson
He was sentenced to four years and six months in prison
According to the judgment documents, the Fengtai District People's Court found the following facts: At about 22:00 on April 6, 2023, the defendant Zhou was at his home in Fengtai District and charged the lithium battery used in his green energy brand electric bicycle on the north bedroom table.
At about 4 o'clock on April 7, the charging battery suddenly exploded and caused a fire, and the fire produced a large amount of smoke, after extinguishing the fire, fire rescue personnel rescued the victims Guo (female, died at the age of 88), Huang (female, died at the age of 52), and Chen from Zhou's home and in the corridor.
According to the reporter's understanding, the defendant Zhou lived on the first floor of a six-story residential building, and there was an outdoor charging carport only 10 meters away from his home. Guo X is a relative of defendant Zhou, and Huang X and Chen X are a husband and wife living on the sixth floor, and when the fire broke out, the two went downstairs to try to escape.
Guo and Huang died on the same day after rescue efforts failed, and Chen was diagnosed with inhalation injury (severe), multiple burns all over the body, carbon monoxide poisoning, metabolic acidosis combined with respiratory acidosis, etc.
According to the fire accident of the Fengtai District Fire and Rescue Detachment, the fire in this accident was caused by thermal runaway ignition of surrounding combustibles during the charging process of electric bicycle batteries.
Defendant Zhou took the initiative to ask others to report the fire after the incident, and was summoned to the case by the police of the Criminal Investigation Detachment of the Fengtai District Public Security Bureau at the scene, and truthfully confessed the above facts after arriving at the case.
Fengtai District People's Court believes
Defendant Zhou's awareness of law and fire safety was weak, and his negligence caused a fire, resulting in the death of two people and the injury of one person, and his conduct constituted the crime of fire and should be punished in accordance with law. In view of the fact that the defendant Zhou X voluntarily surrendered, voluntarily pleaded guilty and accepted punishment, and obtained the forgiveness of the victim Guo's legal representative, and gave him a lighter punishment, it is therefore decided that the defendant Zhou X committed the crime of arson and was sentenced to four years and six months imprisonment.
Zhou appealed on the grounds that the sentence was too severe
The court upheld the original verdict
After the first-instance verdict was announced, Zhou appealed on the grounds that the sentence was too heavy. The Beijing Municipal No. 2 Intermediate People's Court held that the judgment rendered by the court of first instance on the basis of the facts, nature, and circumstances of Zhou's crime was correctly applied, the sentence was appropriate, and the trial procedures were lawful, and should be upheld.
In the end, the court made a final ruling, rejecting the appellant Zhou's appeal and upholding the original judgment.
Chita D:
Who is responsible for the fire of an electric car?
In the event of an electric vehicle fire
The responsibility of the owner's personal owner, community property, and electric vehicle manufacturer
Who is responsible?
Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China
Article 115 Whoever causes serious injury or death to a person or causes major damage to public or private property by arson or other dangerous means shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years, life imprisonment or death;
Civil Code of the People's Republic of China
Article 1165:Where the perpetrator infringes upon the civil rights and interests of others due to fault and causes harm, they shall bear tort liability.
Article 1172:Where two or more persons separately commit tortious acts causing the same harm, and the extent of responsibility can be determined, each of them bears corresponding responsibility;
Article 1202: If a defective product causes damage to others, the manufacturer shall bear tort liability.
Article 1203: Where a defective product causes damage to others, the infringed party may request compensation from the manufacturer of the product or from the seller of the product. If the product defect is caused by the producer, the seller has the right to recover from the producer after compensation. If the product is defective due to the fault of the seller, the producer has the right to recover from the seller after compensation.
Fire Protection Law of the People's Republic of China
Article 64 Whoever commits any of the following acts in violation of the provisions of this Law, which does not constitute a crime, shall be detained for not less than 10 days but not more than 15 days, and may be concurrently fined not more than 500 yuan; if the circumstances are more minor, he shall be given a warning or a fine of not more than 500 yuan; he instructs or forces others to violate fire safety regulations and work at risk; he causes a fire by negligence; he obstructs the alarm after a fire breaks out, or the personnel responsible for reporting fail to report to the police in a timely manner; he disrupts the order of the fire scene, or refuses to carry out the command of the commander at the fire scene, affecting the fire fighting and rescue; he intentionally destroys or falsifies the fire scene; he unpacks or uses a place that has been sealed by the fire and rescue organization without authorization, partial.
Product Quality Law of the People's Republic of China
Article 41 If the defective product causes damage to persons or property other than the defective product, the producer shall be liable for compensation. The producer shall not be liable for compensation if it can prove that it has any of the following circumstances: the product has not been put into circulation, the defect causing the damage did not exist when the product was put into circulation, and the existence of the defect could not have been discovered at the level of science and technology at the time the product was put into circulation.
Article 42 If the product is defective due to the fault of the seller, causing damage to the person or property of others, the seller shall be liable for compensation. If the seller cannot identify the manufacturer of the defective product or the supplier of the defective product, the seller shall be liable for compensation.
Article 49 Anyone who produces or sells a product that does not conform to the national or industry standards for safeguarding human health and the safety of persons and property shall be ordered to stop production or sale, confiscate the illegally produced or sold product, and impose a fine of not less than three times the equivalent value of the illegally produced or sold product (including sold and unsold products, the same below);
Regulations on Fire Safety Management of High-rise Civil Buildings
Article 37: It is forbidden to park or charge electric bicycles in public foyers, evacuation walkways, stairwells, and safety exits of high-rise civil buildings.
Encourage the establishment of centralized storage and charging places for electric bicycles in high-rise residential areas. The storage and charging places for electric bicycles shall be set up independently and at a safe distance from high-rise civil buildings;
The storage and charging places for electric bicycles shall be equipped with necessary fire-fighting equipment, and the charging facilities shall be equipped with automatic power-off functions.
Article 47 In violation of these provisions, any of the following acts shall be ordered by the fire and rescue agency to make corrections, and a fine of not less than 2,000 yuan but not more than 10,000 yuan shall be imposed on business units and individuals, and a fine of not less than 500 yuan but not more than 1,000 yuan shall be imposed on non-business units and individuals: (7) parking electric bicycles or charging electric bicycles in the public foyers, evacuation walkways, stairwells, and safety exits of high-rise civil buildings, and refusing to make corrections.
Prevent e-bike fires
Keep in mind the seven "don'ts"
↓↓↓
1. It is strictly forbidden to purchase unqualified electric vehicles and accessories. Unqualified, non-standard or over-standard electric vehicles, batteries, wires, and chargers will increase the risk of fire.
2. Unauthorized modification is strictly prohibited. Unauthorized modification of batteries, installation of audio, lighting, etc., is easy to cause overload of the line and cause fire.
3. It is strictly forbidden to park not in accordance with the regulations. It is strictly forbidden to park electric bicycles in housing, underground garages, basements, and semi-basements that have not implemented preventive measures such as fire separation and guardianship.
4. It is strictly forbidden to charge in non-specified areas. It is strictly forbidden to charge in public areas such as public foyers, evacuation passages, stairwells, overhead floors, and safety exits in crowded places and residential buildings, and batteries cannot be taken home for charging.
5. It is strictly forbidden to "fly wire charging". It is strictly forbidden to charge electric bicycles in a way that does not meet the technical standards and management regulations of fire protection such as pulling wires and installing sockets indiscriminately.
6. It is strictly forbidden to charge near flammable products. Electric vehicle charging should be kept away from electric bicycle parking places and flammable and explosive materials made of flammable and combustible materials.
7. It is strictly forbidden to charge for a long time. The vehicle should avoid charging for too long, charging overnight and leaving it unattended, once there is a problem with the battery, wires, etc., it is very easy to cause a fire.
safety first
Don't leave anything to chance
Retweet, reminder!
Source: Beijing Daily, Ministry of Emergency Management of the People's Republic of China
Editor-in-charge: Li Jiani
Editor: Anne Xu