Zheng Qingyue, a Senior Port Executive at Tianjin Port has been sacked for allegedly neglecting duties in the Tianjin warehouse explosions, according to the Chinese state-owned newspaper People’s Daily.
The executive will also be removed from his position as director of the Tianjin International Trade and Shipping Center.
Other executives who will face prosecution for dereliction of duty are Zheng’s assistant Li Hongfeng and the Deputy Chief of the company's Safety Supervision Department.
Government investigations found the port had neglected safety oversight duties and blamed it for poor regulation of Ruihai International Logistics, the operator of the terminal in which the explosions occurred.
On the day of the tragedy, two blasts ripped through a warehouse in Tianjin Port where large amounts of toxic chemicals were stored, including around 700 tonnes of sodium cyanide, at around 11:30pm on August 12, 2015.
The original explosion was believed to have been caused by the detonation of explosives that were being stored at the warehouse, although the actual cause is still unknown.
Civilians had to be evacuated from the area, due to large amounts of sodium cyanide contamination in the port area.
According to Reuters, the explosions killed more than 160 people.
Zheng Qingyue was unavailable for comment.
