China's safety watchdog said on Thursday it has punished 133
people who were held responsible for five serious accidents that
claimed 249 lives.
Fifty-one people have been transferred to judicial departments
while the other 82 government officials at city and county levels
have been disciplined, said Chen Changzhi, vice minister of the
Ministry of Supervision, which supervises the performance of
government officials.
One of the accidents was a mine blast in Hebei Province on
December 7 2005 which killed 108 people. The other accidents, all
of which claimed more than 30 lives, occurred in Shaanxi, Shanxi
and Yunnan and Chongqing Municipality.
The State Administration of Work Safety and the Ministry of
Supervision said in a joint release the extremely serious accidents
should be taken "lessons that have come at the cost of blood and
lives," said it.
Investigations show the accidents have inflicted a direct
economic loss of 95.14 million yuan (US$12.37 million).
Mr. Chen Changzhi, Vice
Minister of Supervision, at the joint release
(Xinhua News Agency May 10, 2007)
