Following a suspected "cover-up"?after a coalmine disaster
in north China's Shanxi Province a county chief and his deputy
have been relieved of their posts in the local Party committee for
dereliction of duty.?
At least 56 miners have been trapped underground in the mine in
Zuoyun County for 11 days.
The municipal Party committee of Datong, which governs the
county, announced over the weekend that county chief Zhang
Mingsheng and his deputy Shi Lu had been relieved of their Party
positions.
They retain their government posts but informed sources at the
rescue headquarters said?that the county people's congress is
considering dismissing them altogether.?
At least 266 miners were working underground when the mine
flooded on May 18 and 210 managed to escape. But it was initially
reported that just five miners had lost their lives in the
incident.?
The State Council has set up an investigation,
headed by Li Yizhong,? director of the State Administration of
Work Safety (SAWS) to look into the accident. Provincial governor
Yu Youjun and several deputy ministers of
public security, supervision and work safety have also joined the
investigation in what is the most serious coalmine accident this
year.
The weekend announcement follows the detention of 19 mine
executives and contractors last week.
Chang Rui, Party secretary of Zhangjiachang Town where the mine
is located and Liu Yongxin, the township government head, were
suspended from their posts last week because they were suspected of
being involved in a cover-up.
Initial investigations suggest the flooding was caused by water
pouring in from a neighboring mine.
(China.org.cn, China Daily May 29, 2006)
