A former company executive has been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve and nine other company and public officials will be jailed for three to five years for involvement in a factory explosion that killed 36 in January.

Shen Xishuan, legal representative of Lilin Firecrackers Company Ltd. in Linqi Town, Linzhou City in Henan Province, was sentenced at the Intermediate People's Court of Anyang City to death with a two-year reprieve for illegally trading explosives.

Three other company executives, Shen Cunsheng, Shen Yongjiang and Zhang Hongsheng will be jailed for terms of three to five years for the same crime.

Three former officials with Linzhou Work Safety Administration, Han Qingde, Cui Zhongming and Li Lin, former officials with Linqi Town government Ma Linjiang and Wang Chengsong, and a Linzhou Public Security Bureau official were jailed for three to four years for negligence.

The explosion happened in a storehouse of the factory on Jan. 29. Sixteen people died in the blast and 20 died later.

Investigations showed that improper storage of the fireworks was largely to blame for the explosion.

(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2006)