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Wang Xiangwei

Leaders are under pressure to punish CNPC head for the Chongqing disaster

The central government is under intense pressure to sack Ma Fucai,  president of China National Petroleum Corp, over the Chongqing gas blast that killed 243 people and injured more than 10,000.

Sources said yesterday he would be sacked soon.

The government has also been urged to follow precedent by publicly censuring the vice-premier in charge of industries to assuage the public's anger. Doing so would  reflect the determination of President Hu Jintao  and Premier Wen Jiabao  to uphold their put-the-people-first approach,  official sources said.

The blast late on December 23 led to the release of a cloud of toxic hydrogen sulfide  - forcing the evacuation of more than 60,000 villagers.  It  is believed to be China's biggest industrial disaster.

CNPC is the parent company of PetroChina. Chongqing police have arrested three low-level PetroChina employees for breaching safety regulations.

The three - engineer Wang Jiandong,  technician Song Tao  and drilling team leader Xiang Yiming  - are accused of failing to follow standard operating procedures. They are expected to face criminal charges soon.

Sources said yesterday that, as well as Mr Ma, the CNPC vice-president in charge of industrial safety, Ren Chuangjun, was also likely to be sacked. As the company's two top officials, they  should bear overall responsibility for the accident, the sources said.

CNPC said last week that Wu Yaowen,  vice-president of PetroChina, had retired. But the Beijing Star Daily said Mr Wu had been fired over the Chongqing accident.

The official media has been piling pressure on CNPC, accusing the company of neglecting industrial safety, failing to notify people living near the gas well of the dangers of a leak and being slow in taking action to cap the well and save lives.

Sources said the Beijing leadership had not made up its mind on whether any top government officials should be held accountable for the accident, but officials had urged the leadership to follow precedent.

In November 1979, an oil rig collapsed in the stormy Bohai sea, leaving 72 oil workers dead.  Song Zhenming,  the then oil minister, was subsequently sacked and vice-premier Kang Shien,  then in charge of the oil industry, became the first top central government official to be publicly censured.

In May last year, Beijing announced that one of China's navy submarines had malfunctioned, killing all 70 sailors on board. The following month, the Central Military Commission not only sacked the fleet commander and commissar but also the commander and commissar of the navy.

If these precedents were followed, Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan  could face public censure, official sources said. Mr Zeng's portfolio includes industries.

Formerly the minister of state planning, Mr Zeng was promoted in March.

Sources said CNPC, with annual sales of more than 400 billion yuan and a workforce of 1.5 million, had been focusing on expansion and cost-cutting at the expense of safety and environmental protection. Last year, the company is reported to have invested about 100 billion yuan - a sum equal to its entire pre-tax profits - on expansion.



Gas firm's chief faces sack over toxic blast