Society

Officials prosecuted for mine fire that killed 25

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-10-28 16:03

ZHENGZHOU - Eight officials in Xinmi, a city in Central China's Henan province, have been prosecuted for negligence over a fire at a colliery in March left 25 miners dead, the city's procuratorate said in a statement Thursday.

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Four of the eight were officials from Xinmi's coal mine bureau. The other four were local safety officials in Niudian Town, where the colliery is located.

Thirty-one miners were working underground at the Dongxing Coal Mining Co colliery when electric cables caught fire on March 15.

Six miners managed to escape. The rest succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning and died.

The workers had no oxygen tanks underground, which would have allowed more miners to survive the accident, the statement said.

The eight officials were arrested over the past seven months.

Seven high ranking officials were sacked in the wake of the fire, including a vice mayor of Xinmi and three safety chiefs.

The procuratorate said it has filed a separate suit against five senior executives of the mining company, including the mine's owner and manager.