Some 222 people were dealt with according to Chinese law as they were allegedly responsible for six catastrophic coal mines accidents that had occurred throughout the country since November last year.

According to a press release Friday in Beijing on the investigation and handling of the six coal mine accidents, among the 222 people, 96 have been handed over to the judicial departments, 126 got disciplinary punishment, and 40 had been stripped of their administrative posts.

At a press conference jointly held Friday by the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) and the Ministry of Supervision, SAWS Director Li Yizhong said 528 people were killed in the six coal mine accidents.

He attributed the occurrence of the accidents to resistance to law enforcement and illegal production; production beyond the capacity, intensity and headcount allowed; chaotic management and impotent regulations; ineffective supervision by relevant departments and corruptive forces as protective umbrellas behind the accidents.

Li said the investigation results of the six catastrophic accidents indicated that some coal mines have not implemented the work safety policies and laws and regulations in a serious, responsible manner.

He accused some local authorities of not being effective enough to rectify or close those coal mines that do not meet the work safety standards and the illegally-operated coal mines, and safety watchdogs and industry-specific regulators of failing to fulfill their responsibilities.

The liable persons involved in the six accidents have been punished in accordance with relevant laws and regulations and the Not-Let-Go Principle, Li said.

The official also said: "Where crimes are constituted, the offenders have been handed over to the judicial departments for justice."

"We hope that all coal mines will learn from the bitter lessons that these accidents have taught us, by strengthening their various measures to improve work safety," Li stressed.

According to Li, from Jan. 1 to Dec. 18, a total of 119,827 persons were killed in 691,057 accidents (including traffic accidents) throughout the country, a decline of 7.4 percent and 9.6 percent respectively compared with the same period of last year.

Since the beginning of this year, 11 accidents each killing at least 30 persons have occurred in coal mines, four of them each with a death toll of over 100, Li revealed.

Again, he expressed the resolve to close about 4,000 ill-operated coal mines.

Coal is the major energy resource in China, covering 67 percent of the country's consumption structure of all primary energy resources.

In recent years, the Chinese government has issued a series of regulations and measures to improve coal mine safety.

But the situation is still grave. Official statistics said from January to September this year, 4,228 people were killed in 2,337 coal mine accidents.

A deadly colliery blast on Nov. 27 in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province killed 171 coal miners.

Source: Xinhua