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BEIJING - Three policemen and four government officials in China have been charged over widespread corruption linked to a nightclub fire which killed 44 people, state press reported Thursday.
They have been charged with bribery and dereliction of duty in allowing the nightclub to operate without a license and to conduct prostitution and drug trafficking there, the China Daily said, citing prosecutors.
The head of the local police district, Yang Zhouwu, had taken a 300,000-yuan (US$43,400) bribe from the nightclub owner before the disaster, it said.
"He knew full well about the nightclub's illegal operation and the shadowy deals being run there," prosecutor Tang Tailai was quoted as saying.
The fire and a subsequent stampede at the Dance King nightclub in southern China's Shenzhen city, near Hong Kong, on September 20 left 44 people dead and dozens of others injured.
A fireworks stunt that went wrong caused the blaze, witnesses and state media report said at the time. Hundreds of people packed the club at the time and stampeded because there were not enough exits for everyone to escape
quickly.
The deputy police chief of another Shenzhen district, Chen Xuming, was among the seven people charged, with prosecutors alleging he took a bribe of 60,000 yuan from the nightclub owner, the China Daily said.
The head of the local fire brigade was among the others charged.
Deadly fires are common in China due to the routine flouting or ignorance of fire and safety measures.
The government said early this year that 159,000 fires broke out in China in 2007, killing more than 1,400 people.
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