169 punished for fatal accidents

The State Council has approved a decision to hand out harsh penalties to 169 people held responsible for five major work-related accidents that happened during the past two years, the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) announced yesterday on its website.

Among the 169, 131 were handed over to justice departments for criminal prosecution, the SAWS said.

The five accidents included a mine blast in Linfen in Shanxi province that killed 105 on Dec 5, 2007, a train collision in Shandong province on April 28 that claimed 72 lives, and a mud and rock slide at an unlicensed iron ore facility in Linfen that killed 277 people.