Officials must be responsible for fire safety

After a fire claimed 120 lives in Jilin province, serious questions remain unanswered, said an article in Beijing News (excerpts below).

Precautions against fire were taken in Jilin province, the local government said. Fire safety was a priority, they said.

But not enough was done. According to Xinhua News Agency, there was a fire in the same place three years ago. For all their precautions, officials could not prevent another fire.

What is needed is a responsibility mechanism that makes officials pay for mistakes – that is the only way of preventing such tragedies from happening again.