On Monday, an official from Hebei's coal mine safety supervision
bureau confirmed that a local colliery owner had covered up five
people's deaths after a gas blast in the northern province last
November.
The explosion took place on November 20 at Hongxing Colliery in
Kaiping Town, Tangshan City and killed eight miners.
But the mine owner, fearful of losing additional money should
the colliery be closed, only reported the loss of three lives.
The conflict with witnesses' reports of the true death toll
resulted in a survey team being set up to identify the correct
figure. Eventually, faced with the evidence against him, the
colliery owner admitted he had covered up the truth.
The bureau official said the victims were from the provinces of
Hebei,
Henan,
Jiangxi
and Shaanxi.
The colliery owner will be eligible for further penalty and his
bank account has been frozen.
(Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2005)