A court in Hunan Province on Wednesday began hearing charges against six people accused of being responsible for a fire in which 20 firefighters died in Hengyang City in Hunan last year, Shenzhen Daily reported Wednesday.

The firefighters died when the Hengzhou Building collapsed Nov. 3 when they were trying to put out a fire in the building. It was the worst accident involving firefighters since 1949.

Investigations showed that shoddy construction had helped the fire. The developer, Yongxing Group, was suspected of presenting one set of blueprints to construction officials but using another set in the actual construction, earlier reports said. While plans presented to city officials were for a seven-story building, the actual building was in some places nine stories.

Two former officials of the Yongxing Group, Board Chairman Li Wenge and Vice General Manager Li Yongkai were prosecuted.

Other defendants include Wei Dongheng, former foreman of the Hengyang Jiangdong Construction Co., Zhu Feng, former assistant engineer of the Hengyang Construction Design Institute, Xiao Wei, former engineer of the Hengyang Construction Design Institute, and Shen Liming, former manager of the Hengyang Yongxing Real Estate Management Co. Ltd.

Source: Shenzhen Daily