China sacked four government officials on Tuesday after 25 people were killed in a coal mine fire, state media reported, in the latest deadly incident to hit the nation's hazardous mining industry.
Local authorities said the blaze in a mine in Zhengzhou, capital of central Henan province, was sparked when cables caught fire late Monday in one of the main pits. Six miners were saved, but the rest died.
The governor of the township where the mine is located, an official in charge of work safety in the area, and two other government workers were sacked over the incident, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Local authorities also dismissed three work safety inspectors deployed to the mine, according to the report, which gave no details of why these people were sacked.
An initial investigation revealed the mine was operating illegally, and the dead miners were all migrant workers, the report said.
Police have also detained four people connected to the mine, and frozen their assets and those of the facility.
China's coal mines are among the most dangerous in the world, with safety standards often ignored in the quest for profits and the drive to meet surging demand for coal — the source of about 70 percent of China's energy.
Earlier this month, more than 30 miners were killed in a flood at a coal mine in the Inner Mongolia region of northern China.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
