Families of dead contract firefighters row with Tianjin government over warehouse blast compensation
An ugly row has broken out over compensation for firemen killed in last month’s deadly Tianjin blasts as the city unveiled plans to build an ecological park, including a memorial to the men who gave their lives as they tried to put out the raging fires.
Family members of some of the dead firefighters, employed as contract staff by the company managing the port, said the government had failed to honour them and to compensate them equally with dead firemen who worked for the government.
Two huge blasts at a warehouse storing hazardous chemicals in Tianjin’s port area on August 12 killed 161 people, including 96 firefighters, 11 policemen and 54 civilians. As of Wednesday, 12 people are still missing and nearly 300 injured people remain in hospital.
Authorities in the Binhai New Area said they planned build a 824-hectare park on the blast site, where workers are still cleaning up toxic chemicals and damaged containers.
Sculptures would be erected to “commemorate and praise the firefighters who died heroic deaths, Tianjin Daily reported.
Construction of the park will start in November and is due to finish next July.
WATCH: Aerial view of the fires caused by the explosion in Tianjin
Among the 96 firefighters that died, 73 worked for Tianjin Port Group, a state-owned company in charge of the port. The other 23 were part of the city’s fire department, which is part of the Ministry of Public Security.
But ministry firemen enjoy a higher status, and greater salaries and benefits than other firefighters.
When visiting Tianjin four days after the blasts, Premier Li Keqiang told a Hong Kong television station: “For our heroes, no one is ‘outside the system’. Regardless of whether they’re firefighting officers or non-military firefighting workers, we will treat them the same.”
Yet family members of some dead port firefighters said the government had broken Li’s promise as they had yet to be honoured or compensated like the government firemen.
The 23 ministry firefighters were given compensation, honours and a memorial service “all to the highest standard”, Guo Shengkun, the Minister of Public Security said.
“I’m not satisfied with how the government dealt with the post-mortem arrangements … Our children did not receive any honours, and we’re trying to get them the honours they deserve, but are waiting for the government’s reply,” said the father of Zheng Guangliang, one of the dead port firemen. “The government is not dealing with us in a fair, just and transparent way.”
The sister of Jia Nailiang, another dead port firefighter, said his body was still lying in the funeral home.
“Chinese people have a strong desire for dead loved ones to be laid to rest,” she said. “Government firefighters have been buried, but not ours. All we ask is equal treatment.”
