Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

NEWSDESK

China coal mine owner gets life for cover-up
01 May 2007 03:39:18 GMT
Source: Reuters
BEIJING, May 1 (Reuters) - China has jailed a coal mine owner for life for a gas blast that killed 21 people and for a subsequent cover-up, local media said on Tuesday.

Wang Jianjun, the owner of a private mine in Jincheng in the coal-rich northern province of Shanxi, received the sentence from a local court for the March accident, the Beijing News said.

In March, he ordered an "outrageous cover-up" of the deaths by sealing off information, sending home miners and destroying evidence, the newspaper said.

The sentence was the harshest punishment meted out in the world's deadliest coal mining industry -- with a death toll of 4,746 people in 2006 -- in recent years, it added.

"It is a good signal to the society. Harsh punishment to clean up such chaos highlights the party and government's efforts to improve work safety," Li Yizhong, head of the State Administration of Work Safety, was quoted as saying.

Wang was fined 1 million yuan ($129,800), and two managers were sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. Another 19 defendants, including eight civil servants, were also jailed.

China has been at pains to clean up its coal mines, where production is often pushed beyond safety limits in the face of robust demand and profitability with a booming economy.

But collusion between officials and mine owners is widespread, and cover-ups of accidents are not uncommon.

Last year, authorities more than doubled the length of jail terms one can receive for fatal mining accidents and cover-ups in an amendment to the country's criminal code last year.

A total of 4,000 small and unsafe coal mines would be shut down by the end of this year, Xinhua news agency said on Monday.


AlertNet news is provided by

Email this article       Send comments

Countries

Small country map
© 2004 Europa Technologies Ltd.
Reset map

•  China profile
· View map

MORE >>

NGO latest

•  Christian Aid joins green.tv
Christian Aid - UK

•  Christian Aid comment on 5 April Gleneagles event
Christian Aid - UK

•  Governments must invest to help poor people adapt to climate change
CARE International - UK

•  Beware of hidden strings on EU's offer on trade
Christian Aid - UK

•  Australians see little improvement for children in developing countries
ChildFund Australia

MORE >>

Latest news

•  China coal mine owner gets life for cover-up

•  Chinese puzzle bamboozles U.N. climate talks

•  PRESS DIGEST-Financial Times, Wall St Journal Asia editions

•  Jailed China judge dies of "sudden death syndrome"

•  Experts meet on U.N. report but time running out

MORE >>

Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Tue May 1 03:40:48 2007