Photo taken on Dec. 27, 2015 shows the landslide site at an industrial park in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province. (Xinhua file photo)
BEIJING, July 15 (Xinhua) -- A dump-site landslide that killed 73 people and left four others missing in Shenzhen in December was an "extraordinarily serious" safety accident caused by human errors, a report by a State Council investigation team said Friday.
After nearly seven months of investigation, the team concluded that the accident was caused by the improper storage of construction waste, and lack of an efficient drainage system in the landfill site.
The disaster was a safety accident due to dereliction of duty, rather than a natural geological movement, the report said.
As of Jan. 14, 2.78 million cubic meters of waste soil had been removed from the dump site. Seventeen people injured in the incident had received treatment, and 4,630 employees in 90 companies affected had been relocated.
The team identified 110 people with various levels of responsibility for the landslide, 53 of whom have been put under "coercive measures." "Coercive measures" may include summons by force, bail, residential surveillance, detention and arrest.
The report recommends that the license of Shenzhen Yixianglong, the company managing the dump site, be revoked and company executives be banned from executive posts in the sector.
The other two companies responsible for the accident should face fines and other punishments, the investigation concluded.
The accident on Dec. 20 destroyed 33 buildings with direct economic losses at 880 million yuan (132 million U.S. dollars).
OVERLOADED DUMP SITE
The Hong Ao landfill received construction waste such as mud and residue soil. It had a planned storage of 4 million cubic meters and a maximum stack height of 95 meters. When the accident happened, its actual storage reached 5.83 million cubic meters and the waste heaps stood as high as 160 meters, seriously exceeding the standards, according to the report.
There was no effective drainage system at the site, resulting in surplus water and a soft and slippery surface beneath the waste piles.
Furthermore, Yixianglong staff had taken the wrong measures to deal with cavities and the expansion of some heaps before the landslide. They had never issued any warnings nor reported anything to local authorities, which delayed the evacuation.
The investigators excluded geological and meteorological factors such as earthquakes and rainfall.
They also found that the Hong Ao landfill site had been constructed and operated without construction and environmental impact assessments.
DERELICTION OF DUTY BY AUTHORITIES
The report exposed lax safety management and the absence of supervision by local authorities.
Some residents had even reported hazards at the site, but the Shenzhen municipal government and other authorities failed to investigate the complaints.
The investigation exposed corruption by some officials including Xu Yuan'an, head of the urban management bureau in Guangming New District.
"Xu shoulders important responsibilities for the accident," said the report, adding he had traded power for money, unscrupulously taken bribes from Long Renfu, boss of the Shenzhen Yixianglong and personally approved the dump site.
Xu committed suicide by jumping from a building during the investigation, the report said.
The team made suggestions for improving government supervision to prevent such tragedies.
Responsibilities must be clearly delineated, safety management in urban regions must improve as must risk control.
The team urged governments to improve urban management, enhance supervision over urban dump sites, strengthen emergency management, and tighten safety requirements.
