As rescuers continue to search for 42 miners
trapped underground last Friday after a colliery flooding in
central China's Henan Province, 10 officials were detained
yesterday for further investigation and could face stern
punishment.
The province's Department of Public Security said
five of the officials had fled after the accident at the
privately-owned and unlicensed Sigou Coal Mine in Xin'an County,
including the owner Li Jianwei.
Li ran away to the northwestern province of Gansu
but was caught after a massive manhunt launched by the local
government.
Accident workers are draining water from the shaft
and drilling a new hole to provide any of those surviving an oxygen
supply.
A new regulation came into effect in Henan on
Tuesday meaning illegally operating collieries will be fined 1
million yuan (US$123,000) for each death from fatal accidents.
In addition, coal mines found to engage in
production without required licenses will be fined between 2 and 5
million yuan and forced to close.
Henan is one of China's major coal producers and
suffers many coal mine accidents.
(Xinhua News Agency December 8, 2005)