Ashley Tian/Shanghai Daily
 
There is one reason for the dismal safety record at coal mines in some places: profit, profit and, yes, more profit.
A coal mine purchased for 16 million yuan (US$1.98 million) at the beginning of the year can now be sold for 30 million yuan.
According to People's Daily, making 10 million yuan overnight is not difficult for some especially shrewd businessmen in Shaanxi Province's Shenmu County.
Many mine owners are blinded by the potential for huge gains. That's why they don't care about worker safety.
Some officials also want to grab a share of the pie. That's why they grant approval to unqualified or unlicensed coal mines.
The flooding inside Daxing Coal Mine in Guangdong Province on August 7 was the latest tragedy.
Xinhua news agency reported 11 suspects - including the mine owner, a manager, board chairman and chief technician - were detained by police last Wednesday.
Two mayors, who had administrative jurisdiction over mines in the area, have also been suspended from their posts.
Good. Those blind profit-seekers and inactive officials deserve punishment.
But lives lost are lost forever. Putting culprits in jail is not going to bring them back.
That's why precautionary measures, including effective government supervision and policy execution, are what really matter.
Miners also need to be trained better to recognize dangerous working conditions.
They also need legal protection so that they can refuse to enter an unsafe mine without fear of losing their job.
In daxing's case, the privately owned coal mine received the order from the provincial government to stop production last month.
Mine owners are to blame because they did not follow orders. Some officials can also be held to account because they were shareholders in the coal mine.
But what if government officials at a higher level, the two mayors for instance, had seen to it the mine was shut down?