China punishes 27 over deadly Liaoning blast

China's work safety watchdog on Wednesday announced that 27 people have been punished over an explosion that left four people dead last month at a tank storage area owned by PetroChina in northeast China. The State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) said in a statement on its website that the blast on June 2 in the city of Dalian, Liaoning Province, caused a direct economic loss of 6.97 million yuan (1.13 million U.S. dollars). The tank area was a part of PetroChina Dalian Petrochemical Company, a subsidiary of PetroChina, the country's largest oil and gas producer. The SAWS said it has approved the investigation report by the municipal government of Dalian and the provincial government of Liaoning. According to this report, the blast was caused by nonstandard gas cutting operation on a tank full of inflammable gas. The report said reasons behind the accident include chaotic management of fire-related operations, a lack of effective supervision and poor management of contractors. Three people judged responsible for the accident have been transferred to judicial authorities for criminal prosecution and another 24 people were punished according to related regulations. The SAWS also approved a report on a fire that ripped through one of China's barn bases in the northeastern Heilongjiang Province. The fire took place on May 31 at a barn base owned by the Heilongjiang branch of the China Grain Reserves Corporation. The report said it caused a total economic loss of 3.08 million yuan. Six people involved in the case have been transferred to judicial authorities and another nine were punished according to regulations.