Shanghai Announces Compensation Sum for Fire Victims

Each victim of the high-rise apartment building fire last week in Shanghai will be compensated 960,000 yuan (about $141,180), a government official revealed Tuesday.

Zhang Renliang, head of the city's Jing'an District where the fire broke out, announced at a press conference that the sum includes a one-time death compensation of 650,000 yuan (about $95,590) and other relief funds.

The government will pay the same amount of compensation for victims who were not residents of Shanghai, Zhang said.

The residents whose apartments and belonging in them were destroyed in the fire will be fully compensated for their loss of property, the Xinhua news agency quoted Zhang as saying Tuesday.

The blaze gutted the 28-story building on November 15. Authorities said sparks from welding work set nylon netting and scaffolding on fire.

At least 58 fatalities have been reported. Another 71 people were injured, and some are still unaccounted for, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Among those killed, 57 have been identified, according to Chen Qiwei, a Shanghai municipal government spokesperson.

A name list of the victims has been delivered to relevant departments of the State Council and the fire investigation team, Chen said, noting the government would respect the wishes of the victims' family members on whether to publish the names of those who perished in the fire.

So far, five of those injured in the blaze have been discharged from the hospital and two of the 16 seriously injured have recovered, according to Xu Jianguang, Director of the Municipal Health Bureau.

Luo Lin, head of the State Administration of Work Safety, has blamed the tragedy on unlicensed welders, illegal multilayered sub-contracting and poor management.

Shanghai police have detained 12 people in connection with the fire.

Some 440 people from 156 families lived in the 85-meter-tall building that was built on Jiaozhou Road in 1997. The fire is said to be the deadliest blaze in the city in decades.

(CRIENGLISH.com November 23, 2010)