45 people accountable for deadly mine blast

Forty-five people have been held to account for explosions on Jan 10 at a gold mine that was under construction in Qixia, Shandong province, the Yantai city government's information office said.

Ten miners died, and one remains unaccounted for. Eleven others were rescued after being trapped underground for two weeks.

The investigative panel held that the explosions were the result of the illegal storage and use of explosives in underground tunnels, as well as the illegal use of fire at the pithead of the Hushan mine, according to a report from the investigation team that was released on Tuesday.

The accident led to direct economic losses of more than 68.4 million yuan ($10.6 million).

The investigation also noted that both Shandong Wucailong Investment, which owns the mine, and the city government of Qixia had concealed and delayed the reporting of the accident.

The Party secretary of Qixia and the city's mayor were removed from their posts following the accident due to their major roles in the late reporting. The police are investigating them and the statutory representative of Shandong Wucailong Investment.

The 45 people held accountable include 15 associated with companies involved in the work at the mine. Twenty-eight officials of Yantai, which administers Qixia, were also identified as responsible parties.

Related companies have been blacklisted for poor production safety records.