The March 21, 2019 explosion at a fertilizer plant in eastern China killed 78 people. - Screencapture Via South China Morning Post

The March 21, 2019 explosion at a fertilizer plant in eastern China killed 78 people.

Screencapture Via South China Morning Post

Prison sentences as steep as 20 years were handed down Monday by Chinese courts related to a massive fertilizer plant explosion in March 2019 that killed 78 people.

The government jailed more than 50 people following the blast at the Jiangsu Tianjiayi plant in Yancheng that demolished a surrounding industrial park and generated a 2.2-magnitude tremor that caused damage nearly 2½ miles away.

Executives and employees at Jiangsu Tianjiayi, the owners of the facility, received sentences ranging from 18 months to 20 years, China’s official news agency reported. Bribery and negligence were among the charges filed.

Local officials with six government agencies were also sentenced, convicted of accepting bribes to falsifying documents.

The court found Jiangsu Tianjiayi guilty of storing hazardous chemicals without facilities that met safety requirements.

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