Related News
8 probed over mine accident in 2009
Print Edition
EIGHT officials are being investigated over claims they covered up a 2009 mining accident in which 24 people died, China’s top procuratorate said yesterday.
The accident in central China’s Henan Province was reported in local newspaper Orient Today on December 25, 2009, but there had been no official investigation until earlier this year.
Reporters received a call on December 22 four years ago saying a coal mine owned by Rongningfeng Co in Lushan County was on fire and nearly 20 people were trapped.
When they arrived at the mine around 9pm they found the gates closed but the mine’s lights on.
A thick haze of acrid smoke hung in the air.
A man who claimed to be in charge but refused to disclose his name admitted there had been a fire in a small area, triggered by short-circuit when workers were carrying out repairs, the newspaper reported.
But he insisted there were no casualties.
The mine was one of 158 its type in Pingdingshan City which had been ordered to stop operations several months earlier, the newspaper found, as part of the provincial government’s effort to improve safety.
Its report said an official from the county’s work safety supervision authority confirmed the cause while there was no response from the county’s coal industry bureau. There was also no response from the provincial coal administration.
However, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate said an investigation earlier this year, after a tip-off, revealed that 24 people had died and the accident had caused direct economic losses of more than 20.4 million yuan (US$3.32 million).
‘Delayed investigation’
It said the Lushan Coal Industry Bureau and the Lushan Bureau of Land and Resources had “failed to earnestly fulfill their safety supervision responsibilities regarding the mine’s illegal operations, deliberately covered up casualties in the accident, and delayed investigation into and handling of the accident.”
Three officials from the Coal Industry Bureau — director Huang Yongdong, chief engineer Gu Sanguo and rescue team head Zhao Beifang — are suspected of abuse of power, the procuratorate said. Five officials from the Bureau of Land and Resources, including Bao Jianwei, deputy head of the mining industry’s supervision and inspection brigade, are being investigated for suspected dereliction of duty.
Prosecutors said they had also found evidence that indicated Huang and Gu may have been involved in bribes.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
