Government and Policy
Officials sacked after mine fire kills 25 in C. China
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-03-16 23:12
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ZHENGZHOU - Four government officials were removed from their posts Tuesday after a coal mine fire killed 25 workers in central China, local authorities said Tuesday.
The fire started with electric cables at 8:30 p.m. Monday in a main pit of Dongxing Coal Mining Co. in Xinmi City in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province, when 31 workers were working underground, according to the Information Office of the Zhengzhou City Government.
The dead miners were identified as migrants from provinces including Henan, Anhui and Sichuan.
The victims had no oxygen tanks when the fire started and were quickly overcome by the enormous amount of carbon monoxide, said Feng Songjian, an officer with the emergency response center of Xinmi.
Coal mines in China are legally obliged to equip workers with oxygen tanks. These could help a miner to survive up to 45 minutes, Feng said.
The sacked officials were Su Yingxi, a vice mayor of Xinmi, Fan Ruihui, governor of Niudian township where the mine is located, another township official in charge of work safety, and a deputy director of Xinmi coal mine bureau.
The Xinmi municipal government also dismissed three work safety inspectors deployed by the municipal and township governments to the mine.
The mine was operating illegally, an initial investigation found.
Wang Shuhe, deputy director of State Administration of Coal Mine Safety, said the mine should have been undergoing technical renovations, but operations resumed without a production license.
Local police have detained an investor, a legal representative and two managers and frozen their assets and the mine company's.
The renovations were aimed at expanding the mine's annual production capacity to 150,000 tonnes from 60,000 tonnes.
Operations at all 101 coal mines in Xinmi were suspended Tuesday for safety overhauls and production reforms, said Wang Tieliang, the city's party chief.
