Cover-up suspected after deadly bus blast
By Li Qian |
January 16, 2013, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Shuangyashan City government in Heilongjiang Province was suspected of trying to cover up the details of a bus explosion that killed 11 people, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
A Zhongxing Mineral Industry Company minibus exploded on January 11. The explosion also caused fatalities on another bus traveling in the opposite direction.
A police investigation showed, Gao Wanfeng, who was suspected of placing the explosives on the bus, was among the 11 deaths. Seven people on one bus and four on the other were killed while 39 were injured, the report said.
Local government officials avoided questions or tried to bribe reporters when asked for details about the incident, Xinhua said.
The report also cast doubt on the government's investigation report, which was published on January 14 after police had finished the investigation the day before.
Discrepancy over information
It said one bus was carrying 35 people and the other 17. However, police previously said the buses were transporting 37 people at the time and provided their names, the report said.
Also, the government announced on January 12 that four more people died after emergency treatment in hospital. However, the two local hospitals all denied having reported new deaths.
The Shuangyashan City funeral house registration sheet showed the four dead people had arrived on January 11, according to Xinhua.
Some reporters said they suspect the government might have hidden some facts, including that the coal mine was violating rules and the bus that exploded shouldn't have been on the road.
Some local officials even tried to bribe media members to keep the information from being published, Xinhua said.
Zhongxing Mineral Industry Company was also said to have attempted to make the case disappear as soon as possible because some injured people and their families had received "hush fees," according to Xinhua.
A relative of an injured person said coal mine officials told them to "speak carefully," otherwise they would receive no money for medical treatment.
Gao, 55, a villager in Shuangyashan City, was jailed for rape in 1985. He later escaped from prison, but was caught and put back in jail in 2001.
He was freed in 2005. He had worked for Zhongxing Mineral Industry Company and had a compensation dispute with the mine after he was injured on the job last year, the report said.
A Zhongxing Mineral Industry Company minibus exploded on January 11. The explosion also caused fatalities on another bus traveling in the opposite direction.
A police investigation showed, Gao Wanfeng, who was suspected of placing the explosives on the bus, was among the 11 deaths. Seven people on one bus and four on the other were killed while 39 were injured, the report said.
Local government officials avoided questions or tried to bribe reporters when asked for details about the incident, Xinhua said.
The report also cast doubt on the government's investigation report, which was published on January 14 after police had finished the investigation the day before.
Discrepancy over information
It said one bus was carrying 35 people and the other 17. However, police previously said the buses were transporting 37 people at the time and provided their names, the report said.
Also, the government announced on January 12 that four more people died after emergency treatment in hospital. However, the two local hospitals all denied having reported new deaths.
The Shuangyashan City funeral house registration sheet showed the four dead people had arrived on January 11, according to Xinhua.
Some reporters said they suspect the government might have hidden some facts, including that the coal mine was violating rules and the bus that exploded shouldn't have been on the road.
Some local officials even tried to bribe media members to keep the information from being published, Xinhua said.
Zhongxing Mineral Industry Company was also said to have attempted to make the case disappear as soon as possible because some injured people and their families had received "hush fees," according to Xinhua.
A relative of an injured person said coal mine officials told them to "speak carefully," otherwise they would receive no money for medical treatment.
Gao, 55, a villager in Shuangyashan City, was jailed for rape in 1985. He later escaped from prison, but was caught and put back in jail in 2001.
He was freed in 2005. He had worked for Zhongxing Mineral Industry Company and had a compensation dispute with the mine after he was injured on the job last year, the report said.
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