Nineteen people have been charged in Linfen City, Shanxi Province, over a coal-mine blast that killed 105 people and injured 18 others last month.

Those charged include the two bosses of the Ruizhiyuan Coal Mining Co Ltd, the former Xinyao Coal Mine -- Wang Donghai, the legal representative, and Wang Hongliang, the owner of the company, Xinhua news agency reported today.

The company has also been charged with damaging national resources, hiding sales revenue and tax evasion.

The people and company are charged with illegal explosives purchases, illegal mining, causing a serious accident and hiding and giving false information about the accident to investigators.

Prosecutors said the company illegally bought 30,750 kilograms of explosives and 23,000 detonators.

The colliery managers delayed reporting the accident to local authorities while sending another 37 workers down to the shaft for rescue operations, the report said.

The gas explosion occurred at 11:15 pm on December 5 at Xinyao Coal Mine, in Hongtong County, Linfen, when 128 miners were working in the shaft, far more than the maximum of 60 miners for one shift as approved by the Shanxi coal mine authority.

Eleven officials are also under investigation over the coal mine gas blast, including officials with the local safety watchdog and land resources bureau. They are accused of dereliction of duty and taking bribes from the coal mine.

Police have arrested 13 people alleged to be responsible for the fatal gas explosion.

The accident was the second deadliest mining accident last year. In August, 181 miners died when heavy rain flooded two mines in eastern Shandong Province.

(Shanghai Daily January 3, 2008)