China's work safety authorities said Friday that 46 work
accidents involving a total death toll of 205 had been deliberately
covered up in the first half of the year.
More than 86 percent of these deaths, or 177 people, died in
colliery accidents. The remaining work safety deaths occurred in
fireworks production, construction and other types of mines.
"Production safety conditions in China has been improving but
severe accidents are unfortunately still a regular occurrence,"
Wang Dexue, vice director of the State Administration of Work
Safety said in a liaison meeting organized by the State Council
Work Safety Committee.
A total of 45,564 people died in accidents in the first six
months, with more than?80 percent of these deaths occurring in
road accidents. Unlike most countries, China combines industrial
and transport accidents in its statistics.
While the official overall accident toll is down 14 percent on
the same period of last year, the number of severe accidents
involving 10-29 deaths has risen in the coal mining and
construction sectors.
Geographically, Liaoning, Shanxi, Zhejiang, Hebei, Henan and Inner Mongolia -- the key coal-producing
regions -- reported more severe accidents in the first six months
than in the same period last year.
Unauthorized mining, cargo and passenger transportation,
construction and the production and storage of fireworks and
explosives remain black spots in the country's production safety
record.
Other factors are poor coal mining management, flawed operations
in the production, storage, sale and use of dangerous chemicals,
reckless driving and poor road safety education. The State
Administration of Work Safety have pledged to severely punish
individuals who dare to cover up accidents. Those who abscond after
accidents will receive the strictest punishments stipulated by law,
it warns.
Official figures reveal that 1,415 people died in railway
accidents in the first six months, 898 in fires excluding forest
fires, while 176 people died or went missing in waterway
accidents.
The official road accident figure is 36,939 lives lost, down 12
percent year-on-year, but still representing more than eighty
percent of the total accident death toll.
(Xinhua News Agency July 14, 2007)