The acting governor of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Chen Deming, proposes the provincial government should build a cemetery and monument for the victims of the explosion at Chenjiashan Coal Mine last week.
Chen's proposal was announced by Ren Xianliang, deputy head of the publicity department under the Shaanxi Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at a press conference held Friday in Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi Province.
The cemetery and monument will be erected on a hill top facing Chenjiashan Coal Mine, a state-owned enterprise with an annual output of 2.3 million tons of coal, and the names of the 166 victims will be engraved on the monument, said Chen.
The cemetery will enable family members to visit the victims' graves and serve as a reminder of the tragedy to the city, Ren said.
When the gas blast occurred on November 28, 293 miners were working in the coal pits about 8,000 meters away from the tunnel entrance. A total of 127 miners, who worked mostly near the entrance, were rescued and 166 others were trapped in the coal mine.
By Wednesday, all the trapped miners were believed dead and the bodies of 65 victims have been found.