20 charged for deadly hotel fire in northeast China

Twenty people have been charged with criminal offenses for a deadly fire in a hotel in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province that killed 20 people.

The deadly fire broke out at Beilong Hot Spring Leisure hotel in the tourist city of Harbin on August 25 last year and it took around three-and-a-half hours for 100 firemen and 30 fire engines to bring the blaze under control.

Investigators found that a fan that short-circuited set nearby plastic ornaments on fire at the hotel and fire control at the hotel had been chaotic since its opening.

The 20 people who have been charged with criminal offenses include Li Yanbin, the de facto controller of the hotel and Zhang Weiping, the hotel's legal representative.

Both people have been arrested and each will face a fine of 175,079 yuan (about USD 25,746), state-run Xinhua news agency reported.