Safety before profits - supervisors
( 2002-07-11 10:07 ) (1 )

China's industrial and mining enterprises are urged to follow State guidelines and not just care about economic gain, said work safety supervisors at a two-day symposium in Beijing which closed on Wednesday.

"China's economic reform is entering a crucial transition period, during which State-owned enterprises are prone to grave accidents due to poor workplace infrastructure," said Shan Chunchang, vice-director of the State Administration on Work Safety (SAWS).

"At the same time, the operators of private enterprises pay little attention to work safety, putting profit ahead of everything else."

In related news, Yin San, the owner of a mine in Fanzhi County, where a fatal blast occurred on June 22, was finally arrested on Tuesday morning.

The blast at the Yixingzhai Gold Mine claimed 37 lives and rescue experts said more bodies are expected to be unearthed when clean-up of the mine is finished.

The mine owner had previously claimed that only two people died, four were injured, and that 34 others escaped the blast.

Yin San and four others believed to be responsible for the tragedy went into hiding a week after the explosion, according to local police in North China's Shanxi Province.

Police detained seven suspects on July 1, who were allegedly to be engaged in attempt to cover up evidence of the fatal explosion by burying and burning those killed.