China pledges ‘crackdown on cover-ups’ after recent deadly mining disaster
- Country’s top safety chief promises special investigation of under-reported mining accidents
- Four officials are being investigated for a suspected a cover-up after a recent fatal mine accident in northeast China
China’s top safety watchdog pledged to crack down on cover-ups of deadly mine accidents as four officials were placed under investigation in northeast China following one of the country’s latest mining disasters.
Wang Xiangxi, head of China’s Ministry of Emergency Management, the country’s top agency responsible for worker safety, called for a special investigation of under-reported mining accidents, according to a statement published on the ministry website Monday night.
“(We should) seriously carry out a special investigation to ‘uncover’ cover-ups of mining accidents, set up a joint mechanism to crack down on cover-ups, and increase rewards for whistle-blowers,” Wang was quoted as saying in a Monday meeting.
Wang said the industry should “make curbing serious accidents a top priority, and solidly carry out special investigations and rectification actions for the hidden dangers behind major mining accidents”.
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Death toll climbs to 6 in China’s Inner Mongolia coal mine collapse
The accident in late June at the Honglin coal mine in Fuxin, Liaoning province, 600km (373 miles) northeast of Beijing, killed seven people and injured seven others.
