Shanghai firefighters brave heavy smoke to battle a blaze that trapped workers underground at a Line 11 Metro construction site and left one dead and six others severely injured. Hours earlier, a 50-ton crane toppled and crushed its operator to death at the site of a future Metro station on Line 9. [Shanghai Daily]

Chen Qiwei, a spokesman for the Shanghai government, said yesterday that the reasons for the accidents are still being investigated.

Despite the deaths, he said the government "always attaches great importance to safety at construction sites".

On November 15, a subway tunnel under construction collapsed in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, killing 17 people.

The latest fatal accidents have prompted fresh calls for proper safety measures in the city where a lot of new subway lines are being built.

Lu Xinwei, a local architect, said: "The accidents expose lots of problems, and safety measures at construction sites must be strengthened."

Four new subway lines opened in Shanghai last month, taking the city's network to 234 km.

Four more, stretching 100 km, will open this year, and the city will have 400 km of subways before the World Expo in 2010.

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(China Daily January 9, 2009)