Mine chiefs jailed for fatal floods
22/12/2006 10:10
Twenty-four coal mine managers have received prison sentences of up to
11 years after being held accountable for two major flooding accidents last year
that killed a total of 151 people.
Zeng fanjin, former owner of the Daxing
Coal Mine in south China's Guangdong Province, and manager of Dajingli Coal Co
Ltd, was given an 11-year prison sentence and a fine of one million yuan
(US$128,000) for continuing to operate the mine without a production
permit.
Zeng yungao, former chairman of the board, was sentenced to 10 years
in prison and fined five million yuan for his involvement and bribery, according
to a verdict by the Xingning City People's Court on Wednesday.
A flood
occurred in the Daxing mine on August 7 last year, killing 121 and seriously
injuring one.
Sixteen other members of the company also received jail terms
ranging from 17 months to seven years with fines for some of them.
In another
verdict, six former managers of the Ji'an Coal Mine in Jilin Province received
prison sentences ranging from four years to seven years for negligence, the
Jiaohe City People's Court reported.
A flood on April 24 last year at the
Ji'an Coal Mine left 30 miners dead.
In a separate case, a deputy head of a
coal mine, where a gas blast on Sunday killed at least three people, has been
taken into police custody after he confessed to having covered up the death of
one miner, local police said yesterday.
Peng qingrui, deputy head of the
Songshutan Coal Mine, inspected the mine shaft shortly after the blast occurred
and found the bodies of two miners and one miner still alive.
He admitted on
Wednesday night that he transported the injured miner to a hospital in
neighboring Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, police said.
Peng said the miner
died on the way to hospital, Jiang Dongwen, a police officer with the Alxa
League Public Security Bureau, said.
Officials say a gas explosion occurred
around 11:30am on Sunday. Five injured miners escaped from the mine shaft and
rescuers brought another miner to the surface later.
Peng just reported the
death of two miners but covered up the death of the miner he had transported to
Ningxia, police said.
Four miners were still missing and their chances of
survival are extremely slim as a fire was burning underground, said Li Xinsheng,
who was leading the rescue.
Xinhua
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