Tianjin, China – Eleven government and port officials have been accused of negligence over the explosions that killed 139 people in Tianjin earlier this month.
Chemicals including TDI were stored at the port - as UTECH-polyurethane.com reported at the time - and a 2013 inspection uncovered safety breaches, as we also reported following the incident.
The officials include the head of Tianjin's transportation commission Wu Dai, and Zheng Qingyue, the boss of Tianjin's port operator, a statement released through the Xinhua state news agency said.
At least three residential complexes were found to have been built within a 1km-radius of the warehouse, which flouted Chinese law.
Prosecutors said the government officials were variously suspected of approving Ruihai's bid to build a hazardous chemical warehouse in the port despite knowing the location broke safety regulations, and of helping the company to pass safety checks even though it did not meet the required standards.
Port officials were also negligent in their supervision of Ruihai's operations, said the statement, failing to detect "illegal activity" and safety issues around its handling of hazardous materials.
Prosecutors have also named all 12 company executives who had been formally detained.
Among them is Ruihai's chairman, Yu Xuewei, and vice-chairman Dong Shexuan, as well as managers from the safety, finance, and operations departments.
Zeng Fanqiang, an evaluator from Tianjin Binhai Haisheng which conducts safety checks, was also detained.
The statement said the 12 executives were suspected of "being heavily responsible for the incident and of illegally storing hazardous chemicals".
