BEIJING, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Beijing police have
detained an official of China Central Television over Monday night's massive
fire that caused one death and seven injuries in a building which housed part of
its new headquarters, the municipal public security bureau confirmed Thursday.
The detained man, Xu Wei, born in 1959, was taken to
a police station near CCTV's new site in eastern Beijing's central business
district after flames engulfed a 30-story building at 8:27 p.m. Monday, a bureau
spokesman told Xinhua.
Xu, who is in charge of the new site's construction,
was suspected of having been responsible for starting the fire by using banned
fireworks, the spokesman said.
Xu is a native of Beijing and began working at CCTV
in 1983.
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The picture taken on the night of Feb.
9, 2009 shows a big fire is engulfing a building next to the new tower of
China Central Television (CCTV) in east Beijing. No casuality is reported
yet and the cause of the fire is under investigation.(Xinhua
Photo)
Photo
Gallery>>> |
He is among 12 people detained so far. The other 11
included three CCTV workers and eight people CCTV hired from a fireworks company
in central Hunan Province to set off the explosives, the spokesman said.
Monday was the traditional Lantern Festival and the
last day fireworks were allowed in downtown Beijing as it marked the ending of
this year's Chinese New Year celebration period. CCTV workers at the new site
said they all received a text message inviting them to a grand fireworks display
at 8 p.m. outside the nearly-completed building.
When flames claimed the building that houses some
CCTV facilities as well as the then-unopened Mandarin Oriental Hotel, the eight
fireworks operators fled, leaving 21 packs of extra large fireworks and
equipment for lighting the explosives.
Police caught the eight in Langfang, a tiny city on
the Beijing-Hebei border Tuesday.
A Beijing government spokesman said the fireworks
they had set off were extremely dangerous and needed approval before being
allowed in downtown Beijing.
He alleged that CCTV had not got approval and further
alleged that its workers ignored policemen's warnings that night.
A source close to CCTV, who refused to be named, said
fireworks had been set off at the iconic new tower since 2007.
He said CCTV spent about 1 million yuan (146,000 U.S.
dollars) on the festive explosives this year.
CCTV apologized Tuesday for the "great loss" and
traffic congestion caused by the lethal blaze. The fire paralyzed traffic in
eastern Beijing and led to the evacuation of 626 residents. One firefighter died
from breathing toxic fumes and seven people were taken to hospital, including
six firemen and one construction worker.
CCTV did not say if the fire would postpone the
inauguration of the new site, originally slated for October.
The burnt building and CCTV's main tower were both
designed by Rem Koolhaas's Rotterdam-based Office for Metropolitan Architecture.
Total investment is about 5 billion yuan.
Residents evacuated after Beijing
CCTV-complex hotel fire back
home
BEIJING, Feb. 11
(Xinhua) -- All 626 residents evacuated after Monday night's massive fire at the
China Central Television (CCTV)complex here went home Wednesday.
The fire involved a 30-story building that houses a
nearly-completed luxury Mandarin Oriental Hotel, part of the new headquarters of
the state television network, in the Chaoyang District in northeastern Beijing.
Full story
Official: CCTV itself responsible for Monday's massive
fire
BEIJING, Feb. 10
(Xinhua) -- China Central Television (CCTV) itself was responsible for Monday
night's massive fire that caused one death and seven injuries in its new
headquarters complex in eastern Beijing, the city's fire control authorities
said Tuesday.
CCTV hired staff from a fireworks company to ignite
several hundred large festive firecrackers in an open space outside one of its
nearly-completed buildings, said Luo Yuan, spokesman and deputy chief of Beijing
Fire Control Bureau.
Fire fighter dead in CCTV hotel fire,
7 others in hospital
BEIJING,
Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- A fireman died and seven people were injured in a massive
fire that engulfed part of the new China Central Television (CCTV) headquarters
in Beijing, said a fire control spokesman Tuesday.
Zhang Jianyong, political instructor of the Chaoyang
branch of the Beijing fire brigade, died at Chaoyang Hospital at around 3 a.m.
Tuesday. Six firefighters and a construction worker suffered injuries that were
not considered life-threatening, said Luo Yuan, spokesman and deputy chief with
the Beijing Fire Control Bureau.
CCTV apologizes for great loss and traffic congestion caused by
lethal blaze
BEIJING, Feb. 10
(Xinhua) -- China Central Television (CCTV) on Tuesday apologized for a massive
fire that engulfed part of its new headquarters in the eastern central business
district of the capital.
The fire broke out on Monday evening, and one firefighter
was killed tackling the blaze and seven other people were injured. Full story
Official: CCTV hotel fire caused by fireworks
BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- The blaze that caused
one death and seven injuries at a hotel within the new China Central Television
(CCTV) headquarters complex in Beijing Monday night was caused by fireworks, the
city's fire control authorities said Tuesday.
CCTV hired staff from a fireworks company to ignite
several hundred large festive firecrackers in an open space outside the
nearly-completed Mandarin Oriental Hotel, which is part of the iconic CCTV tower
complex, said Luo Yuan, spokesman and deputy chief of Beijing Fire Control
Bureau. Full story
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