Lesson from accidents

Three separate accidents claimed around 100 lives, with a dozen people still missing, in Guangdong, Heilongjiang and Henan provinces at the weekend. Dereliction of duty by government officials, violations of work safety rules and illegal operations are once again the culprits.

The nightclub in Shenzhen, where a fire on Saturday killed 43 and injured 65, did not even have a business license and had failed a fire prevention examination. It was obviously an illegal business.

The coal mine in the city of Dengfeng, Henan province, where 37 miners lost their lives in a gas explosion, had already been ordered to suspend production. But it still sent miners down the pit on that fateful night.