Battery charging at home leads to death of delivery rider: Second landlord sentenced to imprisonment, platform interviewed
A seemingly habitual lifestyle has led to a fatal tragedy.
On the evening of October 25, 2022, 53 year old Jiangxi Hummingbird sent rider Ji Moudong back to his room to charge his battery. The next morning, the battery malfunctioned and caught fire while charging, causing the deaths of Ji and his wife.
Recently, there have been new developments in the fire caused by the deadly battery: "Second landlord" Xiang Mouyun was sentenced to eight months in prison with a one-year probation by the Xuhui Court in Shanghai for the crime of fire.
Little fire kills people
Ji and his wife rented a illegally renovated rental house at Room 102, No. 33 Shilong Road, Shanghai.
This 95.68 square meter, two bedroom, two living room house was rented to 5 households by the "second landlord" Xiang Mouyun.
At 2:17 am on October 26, 2022, 53 year old Ji Moudong and 54 year old wife Xu Moumei were awakened by the sound of explosions while sleeping soundly.
After waking up, Mr. and Mrs. Ji found that there was a lot of smoke, and the lithium-ion battery fire at the door was fierce. The fire sealed the only escape route for the couple.
Quickly, the sound of explosions and cries for help woke up other tenants in the room, including the "second landlord" Xiang Mouyun who lived in the living room.
In order to save people, several tenants went together to kick the door of Ji and his wife's house. After kicking it open, they found that the fire had already closed the door, and only heard a mournful cry for help coming from the room. They immediately took a detour to the north side of the balcony, trying to save people, while also reporting to the police.
At 2:18 am on the same day, upon receiving the alarm, the Municipal Emergency Linkage Center immediately dispatched 8 fire trucks and 48 firefighters to the scene for disposal. At 2:24 am, firefighting and rescue personnel arrived at the scene; At 2:33, the fire was extinguished.
However, a small fire that only burned about 15 square meters took away the lives of Ji and his wife - they unfortunately died due to inhaling high-temperature smoke.
Deadly battery
After the incident, the fire control personnel of the Xuhui District Fire Rescue Brigade discovered four sets of lithium-ion batteries and two sets of chargers at the scene of the fire. Based on comprehensive judgment, the faulty thermal runaway battery was No. 1 battery: "The shell is severely deformed and stretched out, and there is wire debris at the charging port, and there are signs of shell explosion in the internal battery cells."
After investigation, it was found that the No.1 battery is not the original electric bicycle battery.
On the night before the incident, at 9:29 pm on October 25, 2022, Ji Moudong took the No.1 battery from his wife Xu Moumei's electric bike and brought it into his rented room for charging.
After investigation, it was found that the original user of the battery was Ji Moudong, with a usage time of about 3 years. Ji Moudong transferred the original electric bicycle to his wife for use after purchasing a new car within the past year.
According to the investigation, the No. 2 battery was purchased by Ji Moudong on behalf of a relative from a Taobao store in February 2022, with a specification of 60V60Ah, which violates the regulation of "the nominal voltage of the battery is less than or equal to 48V" in the "Safety Technical Specification for Electric Bicycles". At present, the Market Supervision Administration of Xuhui District has issued an investigation letter to further investigate and collect evidence from relevant companies.
In the face of a large amount of evidence, the cause of the fire was determined to be a malfunction of the lithium-ion battery used for electric bicycles while charging, which ignited surrounding combustibles and expanded into a disaster.
Management vacancy
The residential building on fire is a commercial residential building completed in 2004, with a total of 7 floors and one elevator for two households.
Starting from December 2009, after renting this rough house, Xiang Yun illegally used wooden keel and gypsum board to separate and build it, and rented it out to the public. When the fire broke out, this two bedroom, two living room house was rented out to five households.
"The deceased man is a delivery boy." According to a resident of the community, there are a total of 5 centralized charging points for non motorized vehicles in the community, with 228 charging interfaces. The residential building where the fire occurred is about a 3-minute walk from the nearest centralized charging point.
"This delivery guy rented it out in 2018 and has been living there for 4 years." The resident mentioned above said that he needs to use an electric scooter to deliver delivery. "I heard that he often takes the battery back to his room to charge it, and the 'second landlord' also lives in this house. He didn't care if he saw it, but ended up causing a big accident."
"Nowadays, people and cars are promoting the idea of 'batteries are not allowed to enter households, and people and cars are different from houses' all day long. However, there are still individuals who seek convenience and bring batteries home to charge. A graying haired aunt said that doing so is not only irresponsible to herself and her family, but also to the residents of the same building.' In case of a fire, everyone will suffer, and we hope that the property management will further strengthen publicity and management. '".
A resident bluntly stated that there is a problem of inadequate management of fire protection facilities in the property of the community.
This has been confirmed by the Xuhui District Fire Rescue Brigade. The property management of the community has not inspected the fire protection facilities in the community as required since July 2022 until the time of the fire. At the time of the fire, some indoor fire hydrant boxes in some unit buildings only had hose reels.
Risk Shifting
The tenant confirmed that Ji Moudong is indeed a delivery company specializing in delivering riders, and the couple used a total of three electric bicycles.
"The food delivery platform has neglected to supervise the safe use of electric bicycles by riders." An investigator confirmed that the deceased Ji Moudong was a Jiangxi Hummingbird delivery rider who signed over 40 pages of service contracts during his work. The platform did not attach importance to the main production tools involved in express delivery delivery delivery business, electric bicycles, and batteries, and shifted the cost and safety risks of production tools to employees.
According to incomplete statistics, there are over 800000 registered riders in Shanghai.
After the fire, the Shanghai Fire Rescue Brigade and the Xuhui District Fire Rescue Detachment have conducted interviews with the platform to further improve the fire protection work system; Various functional departments in Xuhui District have increased their efforts to supervise express delivery companies such as "Three Links and One Delivery", as well as instant delivery platform enterprises such as Ele.me and Meituan, to implement the main responsibility of safety production, and to equip or implement compliant electric bicycles and backup batteries for employees; The Xuhui District Procuratorate plans to file a public interest lawsuit against Hummingbird Internet Technology Co., Ltd. to spread the case handling to public welfare maintenance, forcing platform enterprises to implement the main responsibility of security and strengthen industry self-discipline.
The second landlord was sentenced
In this tragic incident where a person died in a small fire, the "second landlord" was heavily criticized by the residents of the community. Many residents believe that the "second landlord" changed the use of the house space without authorization and rented it out, and did not fulfill their safety obligations, bringing huge safety hazards to the residents of the entire building.
"This' second landlord 'has been renting this house since 2009 and has been renting it for over a decade. When she rented it, it was a rough house and then sublet it to several households," said a resident.
On November 12, 2022, "Second Landlord" Xiang Mouyun was criminally coerced by Xuhui Public Security on suspicion of fire.
On August 18, 2023, the Xuhui District Procuratorate filed a public prosecution. According to the Xuhui District Prosecutor's Office, since December 2009, Xiang Mouyun has been renting a two bedroom, two living room house located at No. 102, Lane 33, Shilong Road for a long time. In order to dilute the rental cost, he has divided and sublet the house to multiple people. During this period, Xiang Yun was aware that Ji Dong often brought lithium-ion batteries for electric bicycles indoors for charging, which could easily cause fires. He did not effectively intervene and did not strictly fulfill his obligation to ensure the safety of the house and indoor facilities.
On August 28, 2023, the Xuhui District Court found that Xiang Mouyun violated prohibitive regulations by changing the use of the house space and renting it out, and failed to fulfill his safety obligations, resulting in a fire and causing the death of two people. His behavior constituted the crime of fire and he was sentenced to eight months in prison with a one-year probation.
Accidents caused by electric vehicle charging faults leading to fires are not uncommon. Fires caused by electric vehicles not only cause property damage and casualties, but also require legal responsibility.
Related laws
Article 115 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that those who set fire, break water, explode, or release toxic, radioactive, infectious disease pathogens or other substances, or use other dangerous methods to cause serious injury, death, or significant damage to public or private property, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years, life imprisonment, or death. Those who commit the crime mentioned in the preceding paragraph through negligence shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years; Those with minor circumstances shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention.
Article 64 (2) of the Fire Protection Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that if a fire is caused by negligence and does not constitute a crime, the offender shall be detained for not less than ten days but not more than fifteen days and may also be fined not more than five hundred yuan; For minor offenses, a warning or a fine of up to 500 yuan shall be imposed.
Article 37 of the Regulations on Fire Safety Management of High rise Civil Buildings stipulates that it is prohibited to park or charge electric bicycles in public lobbies, evacuation corridors, stairwells, and safety exits of high-rise civil buildings. Encourage the establishment of centralized storage and charging facilities for electric bicycles in high-rise residential areas. The storage and charging facilities for electric bicycles should be set up independently and maintain a safe distance from high-rise civil buildings; If it is necessary to install it inside a high-rise civil building, it should be separated from other parts of the building for fire prevention.
Electric vehicles not only bring convenience to life, but also inevitably bring safety hazards. It is necessary to enhance fire safety awareness and avoid the occurrence of electric vehicle fires.
How to choose an electric vehicle?
Suggest choosing a well-known and reputable electric bicycle brand;
Check and understand the "three guarantees" period of the product and the number of local after-sales service outlets, for the convenience of later maintenance and repair;
Check the CCC certification mark of the vehicle, verify the consistency between the certificate of conformity and the overall appearance of the vehicle, especially the length of the saddle. If there is a significant difference, it may be due to the dealer's suspected unauthorized modification, which may seriously affect the safety of electric vehicle riding;
Feel the smoothness of the vehicle's start, acceleration, and driving, as well as the comfort of the vehicle's handling. Check the brake tightness, handlebar flexibility, and wheel mobility to ensure that the selected vehicle is suitable for your own handling;
Do not modify or require the seller to modify electric bicycles without authorization, in order to avoid hidden dangers for future driving safety.
Choosing the right electric vehicle does not mean taking it lightly. Proper use and maintenance of electric vehicles can reduce the occurrence of danger.
