China jails four over sinking of Dashun

Citation

(2002), "China jails four over sinking of Dashun", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 11 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2002.07311cab.003

China jails four over sinking of Dashun

China jails four over sinking of Dashun

China has given jail sentences of up to six years to four people found responsible for a ferry disaster that killed 282 people in 1999 – the country's worst in recent history. The four sentenced by the Intermediate People's Court in Vantai city in the eastern province of Shandong included three officials from the firm that owned the Dashun ferry, which caught fire and sank in stormy seas off Vantai in November 1999, the Guangming Daily said. Government investigators blamed the accident on overloading, navigational errors and misjudgment by the ferry's captain, who was among the 282 dead, state media have said. Vanda Car Ferry Co. general manager Gao Feng was sentenced to six years in prison. His deputy, Vu Chuanlong, was sentenced to five years along with another official from the firm's maritime inspection department, it said. The court also sentenced Du Jijun, a maritime inspector for the Vantai city government, to five years in prison, it said.

(Lloyd's Casualty Week, Vol. 326 No. 9, 23 November 2001).