On Monday, an official from Hebei's coal mine safety supervision bureau confirmed that a local colliery owner had covered up five people's deaths after a gas blast in the northern province last November.

The explosion took place on November 20 at Hongxing Colliery in Kaiping Town, Tangshan City and killed eight miners.

But the mine owner, fearful of losing additional money should the colliery be closed, only reported the loss of three lives.

The conflict with witnesses' reports of the true death toll resulted in a survey team being set up to identify the correct figure. Eventually, faced with the evidence against him, the colliery owner admitted he had covered up the truth.

The bureau official said the victims were from the provinces of Hebei, Henan, Jiangxi and Shaanxi.

The colliery owner will be eligible for further penalty and his bank account has been frozen.

(Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2005)