Work safety situation in coal-rich China province still grim: governor

Source: Xinhua | 03-12-2009 08:14

BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Wang Jun, governor of north China's Shanxi Province, said on Wednesday that the work safety situation in the coal-rich province remained grim.

His words came just two weeks after the deadly Tunlan Coal Mineexplosion, which claimed 78 lives and injured 114.

Addressing a press conference on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress, Wang said the Tunlan coal mine's manager and a deputy manager in charge of work safety had already been removed from their posts, and "more details would be made public soon."

The exact cause for the explosion was still under investigation, Wang said, but "insufficient safety awareness and weak management (at the mine), lax supervision, and failure to implement relevant policies were mainly to blame."

Shanxi Province contributes one fourth of China's coal production, according to Wang.