Government and Policy

Two held for tunnel collapse cover-up

By Qiu Quanlin (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-19 08:09

GUANGZHOU: Two managers of a construction group have been detained for "attempting to cover up" a railway tunnel collapse that left five people dead and one missing in Yun'an county of Yunfu, Guangdong province, on Saturday.

Feng Liangmao and Li Gang, the chief managers of the No 8 section project of the China Railway Tunnel Group were detained on Sunday for submitting a false report 23 hours after the accident occurred, a press release from the Yun'an county government said.

The accident, which left four other workers injured, occurred on Saturday morning, when dozens of laborers were toiling to build the Baiyun tunnel on the Guangzhou-Nanning high-speed railway line in Qiling village.

"Being the managers responsible for the construction of the tunnel, they (Feng and Li) were too busy rescuing workers buried under the debris. They were not prompt in reporting the accident to local authorities," the release said.

The tunnel collapse was only reported to the local government the next morning.

"It was an error of judgment on part of the two managers. Due to the delay, it was difficult for us to organize a prompt rescue operation," said Yang Yuejun, Party secretary of the No 8 section project.

Yang said Feng and Li "might lose their jobs", and if they were found guilty of making a false report of the accident, "they would be punished in accordance with the criminal law".

According to the Guangzhou-based Southern Metropolis Daily, Feng had initially said that only four workers were injured and two missing in the accident.

The local government has set up a special task force to investigate, Yang said.

Rescuers discovered two bodies beneath the pile of debris yesterday morning. The bodies are yet to be identified, the release said.

Of the four injured in the collapse, one was discharged from the hospital and three were in a stable condition, it added.

Wang Qiang, mayor of Yunfu, said an "overall safety inspection of the Yunfu section of the Guangzhou-Nanning railway and other construction projects will be conducted soon" to prevent similar disasters.

Construction of the 30-billion-yuan railway, which connects the southern city of Guangzhou and Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, started in 2008 and is due to be completed by 2012.

"Even as the search for the missing workers and a probe into the accident continue, we will strengthen our efforts to ensure safety at worksites," Wang said.

Wang Yao contributed to the story