Yang sits in court accused of fraud. (Photo/CCTV's Sina Weibo account)
A woman in south China on Wednesday was in court accused of fraud in a case regarding the deadly Tianjin explosions in August 2015.
The suspect, only identified by her surnamed Yang, allegedly swindled 96,576 yuan (12,689 U.S. dollars) from netizens, after she posted three fake stories on microblog Sina Weibo on Aug. 13, according to prosecutors at the Fangcheng District in Fangchenggang, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Yang's posts said that her father had gone missing following the Tianjin incident and her mother had died, prompting a wave of sympathy and donations. The posts attracted 3,856 donations from 3,739 netizens, prosecutors said.
Sina Weibo closed Yang's account the following day, and returned the money to netizens, after reports that Yang's stories were not real.
Yang confessed to the charges and asked for leniency.
In August, two explosions in a warehouse storing hazardous chemicals ripped through nearby residences in north China's Tianjin Municipality. The blasts claimed 173 lives, including 104 firefighters.
