Sixteen officials in Handan County, north China's Hebei Province, have been prosecuted for abuse of power in helping conceal a major coalmine gas explosion on June 3.

According to earlier reports, the gas blast took place at the Hongda Colliery of Handan County, which falls under jurisdiction of Handan City, around 8 a.m. on June 3, killing 14 miners and injuring another 23, with direct economic losses of 2.07 million yuan (about 249,398 US dollars).

However, the coalmine owner, who feared that if the real number of deaths were reported, the coalmine would be shut down and suffer more economic losses, collaborated with some local officials in covering up the big death toll, telling the government investigation team that only one was killed during the gas blast on June 3.

Local media reports indicating a cover-up led the government tore-start investigation into the accident and the police also stepped in.

Sources from the Hebei Provincial People's Procuratorate said those being prosecuted include three officials from Handan County in charge of production safety, two officials in charge of coalmine rescue operation with the Handan City Bureau of Production Safety, three officials in charge of accident investigation, technology and equipment with the Office for Inspection over Coalmine Safety in Handan, two officials with the Handan County Bureau of Land Resources, four officials with the crematory of Yongnian County, as well as two officials from Kangzhuang Township of Handan County.

Among them are Yu Zhanhai, director of Handan County of Production Safety and also head of the Handan County Office for Administration of Coal Industry, who is suspected of being lax in the process of monitoring the Hongda Coalmine which was ordered to suspend production before any austerity measure is taken, Chen Wuzhan, leader of the coalmine rescue operation detachment with the Handan City Bureau of Production Safety, who failed to send rescue workers down and search as more passages as possible after taking in the coalmine owner's words of swearing there was no more miners being trapped except the casualty he previously gave to the public.

Zheng Jianchang, deputy head of the crematory of Yongnian County, a close neighbor of Handan County, and three other officials with the same organization violated the regulation of Hebei Province regarding administration burials and cremated dead bodies of five miners killed in the coalmine accident without permission of the local public security department, making the cover-up possible within a period of time.