Premier Li vows 'thorough probe' into Tianjin blasts

OFFICIAL MISCONDUCT?

The Supreme People's Procuratorate announced on Sunday it has begun to investigate whether there is any dereliction of duty involved in the explosions.

As of Sunday, no officials nor the company handling the warehouse of Ruihai International Logistics Co. Ltd, has been held accountable for the explosions, but the procuratorate said it will look into possible illegal acts, such as abuse of power or dereliction of duty and deal with those acts which may constitute crimes.

A Saturday commentary published by the newspaper affiliated to the top anti-graft watchdog said industrial tragedies revealed loopholes in China's law enforcement, urban planning and supervision, as it went on to question why several communities of over 5,600 households were located within 1,000 meters of the warehouse for dangerous chemicals.

"Until the moment of the explosions, the communities' developers and residents did not know they had lived right beside a 'volcano'," the commentary said.

"The sputtering flames engulfed not only lives and property, but also the sense of security," it said. "It again called public attentions to the question of 'how to guarantee people's lives and property'."

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