Investigation finds fault in fatal collapse

Thirty-one people have been confirmed to be under "criminally coercive measures" for the deadly collapse of a working platform in the unfinished cooling tower of a power plant in Jiangxi province last year, Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday.

The incident occurred on Nov 24 when the tower's crane collapsed, triggering the collapse of the entire construction platform in the cooling tower of the Fengcheng Power Plant in Yichun city. It caused 73 deaths and two injuries, as well as more than 100 million yuan ($15 million) of economic losses.

A team led by the State Council verified the case as a production safety accident on Friday, saying judicial authorities have given "criminally coercive measures" to 31 people responsible for the construction, according to the report.

The team did not release what the exact measures were, the report said. Coercive measures can include a range of involuntary measures such as summons by force, bail, detention or arrest.

The investigators said that a company from Hebei province in charge of managing the construction of the cooling tower did not properly remove equipment used to protect and support the tower, which caused the collapse, the agency said.

Meanwhile, the contractor also failed in supervising and reviewing the construction plan, and it did not stop the illegal removal of the equipment.

China Power Engineering Consulting Group Co and China Energy Engineering Corp, which oversaw the contractor, did not strictly implement regulations and work safety standards, the investigation added. Investigators also identified mistakes and misconduct by other companies and government departments.

The Jiangxi provincial government was ordered to make a deep self-examination over the incident, and 47 officials have been given disciplinary punishments, it said.

The business license of the Hebei company has been revoked, it added.