Man sues 9 over fire that killed his family

Lin Shengbin, whose wife and three children died last year in a fire set by the family’s nanny in Hangzhou, has brought a lawsuit against nine companies or institutes and asked for compensation of 130 million yuan ($20.2 million).

The Hangzhou Intermediate People’s Court accepted the case. The date of the hearing is yet to be announced.

Shanghai-based news website thePaper.cn reported on Tuesday that the plaintiffs — including Lin and the parents of Lin’s deceased wife, Zhu Xiaozhen — are asking for civil compensation of 130 million yuan, according to Lin Jie of Beijing-based DeHeng Law Offices, acting as agent for the plaintiffs.

The nine defendants include Greentown Service Group Co, the property services provider; the fire brigade of the Hangzhou municipal public security bureau; and an agency in Shanghai that recommended Mo Huanjing, the nanny, to work in Lin’s home.

“The lawsuit is about to start. I hope the cost of the lives of my family will increase the public’s awareness of fire protection in high-rise residential buildings,” Lin said in a post on Sina Weibo.

The property management company’s poor maintenance of the firefighting equipment is related to a delay in extinguishing the blaze, a court verdict said in February. The court also sentenced Mo to death, a decision she has appealed.

Mo, who had gambling debts, started a fire in Lin’s apartment on June 22 that killed her employer, Zhu Xiaozhen, and Zhu’s three children.

Mo escaped the blaze and was later detained by the police.