Five More Arrested For China Television Tower Fire - Report
The five were accused of helping to transport fireworks to the construction site of China Central Television's new Beijing headquarters and helping those who lit them flee police, Xinhua news agency said.
The illegal fireworks display on Feb. 9 started a blaze that lit up the Beijing skyline and consumed a nearly-completed building that was to house the Mandarin Oriental.
A Beijing firefighter was killed fighting the blaze.
Police earlier arrested 12 others suspected of causing the blaze, including Xu Wei, 50, who was in charge of construction at CCTV's new site.
The gutted building sits next to the newly-built CCTV tower, a futurist structure that symbolized China's modernization during the August Beijing Olympics.
The tower, scheduled to open in October, wasn't damaged in the blaze.
Beijing officials said the broadcaster was warned repeatedly by police not to set off fireworks that night, but the station refused to comply, reports said.
The fire has hit a nerve with some in China, as CCTV is one of the Communist Party's main propaganda arms, with the incident symbolizing how the powerful often live by a different set of rules from others in Chinese society.
Chinese bloggers have defied censorship efforts and ridiculed CCTV over the debacle, with some celebrating the fire as deserved punishment for the station's propaganda mission.
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Publié le 19 Février 2009 Copyright © 2009 Dowjones
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