Girl jailed over donation fraud regarding Tianjin blasts

NANNING, Jan. 28 -- A girl in south China was sentenced to three years in prison after she pretended to have lost relatives in explosions in north China's Tianjin last year in order to swindle money from sympathetic netizens.

Yang Cailan, 19, was also fined 8,000 yuan (1,221 U.S. dollars) and her cellphone was confiscated, according to the Fangchenggang District People's Court in Fangchenggang City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

She was found guilty of raising 96,576 yuan (14,740 U.S. dollars) from netizens after posting three fake stories on microblog Sina Weibo on Aug. 13.

Her posts said that her father had gone missing following the Tianjin accident and her mother had died, prompting a wave of sympathy and 3,856 donations from 3,739 netizens.

Sina Weibo closed Yang's account the following day. All the money was returned.

Yang confessed and requested leniency.

On the night of Aug. 12, two explosions ripped through a warehouse storing hazardous chemicals in Tianjin Port, killing 173, including 104 firefighters.