Rescuers transfer a miner from the site of a coal mine accident in Jixi City of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, June 6, 2021. All the eight miners trapped in a coal mine after a coal and gas outburst in Jixi City of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province have been lifted to the ground, rescuers said Sunday.(Photo: Xinhua)

 

Ten people responsible for covering up a fatal coal mine accident in Xinmi, Central China's Henan Province were held by local police on Tuesday afternoon for further investigations.

The initial investigation came after media reported on Monday that a safety production accident occurred in a coal mine in Xinmi, which caused four deaths, and those responsible were suspected of covering up the tragedy. 

On Tuesday, the  publicity department of Xinmi said on its official WeChat account  that a joint investigation team will be set up immediately to help investigate and verify the situation overnight. 

A joint team has been established by Zhengzhou and Xinmi to verify the accident. The public security department held 10 people including a man surnamed Li, the investor of the enterprise, and another surnamed Zhang, the legal representative, reported the Central China Television.

As of 10 am on Tuesday, both Li and Zhang admitted that an accident occurred at the mine on May 26, resulting in four deaths.

The Zhengxin Zhongyuan Qiantong Coal Mine is located in Niudian village, Xinmi, and is fully licensed.

The four miners who died in the accident were all natives of Xinmi, ranging from 45 to 55 years old. After receiving compensation from the mine, the bodies of the miners were cremated at the end of May.

In the past week, there were at least two coal mine accidents across the country. 

On Tuesday, eight miners trapped in a coal mine after a coal and gas explosion in Jixi of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province were lifted to the ground, while on Friday, a gas explosion in Hebi, Henan, left eight people dead, as reported on Monday.

Henan issued a notice on Wednesday calling for coal mine safety to be strengthened. Coal mines found to have eight kinds of illegal excavation operations, including coal mine gas exceeding limits and serious water damage, will be suspended for rectification.

On January, a delay of 30 hours in reporting a gold mine explosion accident to the government in East China's Yantai, Shandong Province, in which 22 miners were trapped, shocked the nation. At least 45 people have been held responsible for the accident.

According to China's law, the person in charge of the accident unit must report accident information to the local government within one hour of receiving the on-site report. China also has severe penalties for late reporting and concealment of accidents.