I was intrigued by this headline from today's Herald Tribune.

 

On Monday evening China's Central Television Company (CCTV) arranged a major fireworks display in an open area in CCTV's Beijing complex to celebrate the lunar New Year. On one side of the site is the new but not yet completed 44-storey luxury Mandarin Oriental Hotel. During the display, something went wrong and the hotel became the centrepiece of the fireworks night. The fire roared for more than five hours, as a result of which the building imploded. It is now a burned-out shell! There's a good video on YouTube.

 

I somehow doubt that an apology is all that the Mandarin Oriental Group will be after.

What a simple "sorry about that" is not just compensation? Actually. in the USA the incident would immediately go to lawyers, no-one would admit quilt, and a quite settlement would be made. A guilty party actually admitting guilt sounds kind of refreshing to me.

What a simple "sorry about that" is not just compensation?

 

I was being sarcastic - because the article only mentioned an apology and nothing about compensation. But as the hotel is on CCTV's land right next to the extraordinary Z-shaped CCTV headquarters which was completed in time for the Olympics and became "a symbol of a modernising and powerful China." (Herald Tribune quote). As the company appears to have admitted liability, I am pretty certain it will cover all the costs and damages. Since the hotel will have lost several years of business in addition to design and construction costs, the payout will be huge.

According to the BBC, the hotel did have its sprinker system in place. However, because the hotel was not yet open to the public, the sprinklers were not switched 'on'. What about all the workers who were in the building each day putting the finishing touches to the decor, I wonder! Luckily none of them were killed, although a fireman was.