Four local officials involved in a fatal colliery gas blast in north China's Shanxi Province have been sentenced to prison by the provincial higher people's court.

The blast in Jiajiapu Coal Mine, Ningwu county, on July 2, 2005, killed 36 people and injured another 11.

The court said Lian Yuming and Kang Cunhuan, former chief engineer and director of the Ningwu county coal industry bureau, violated state rules by approving an expansion of the coal mine without first conducting a safety assessment.

The coal mine operated in a dangerous manner even though the Ningwu county coal industry bureau ordered it closed in 2005.

Lian and Kang were sentenced to three years in prison for abuse of power, said the verdict.

After the blast, Li Tian'en, former deputy Communist Party secretary of Ningwu county, Li Desheng, former deputy head of the county, and Kang Cunhuan colluded with mine owners to hide the bodies of 17 dead miners in order to escape punishment.

Both Li Tian'en and Li Desheng were sentenced one year and six months in prison.

"The behavior of the four defendants had an extremely harmful social impact," the verdict said.

Sources with the Supreme People's Court said Tuesday that the four defendants appealed in February after their first trial, but the provincial higher court upheld the original verdict.

Coal mines in China have an abominable safety record. Accidents such as flooding, cave-ins and gas explosions occur frequently, due to poor safety conditions and lax supervision by local governments.

In 2006, 4,746 people were killed in 2,945 coal mine accidents -- a drop of 20 percent on the previous year but still equal to 13 miner deaths per day, according to the the State Administration of Work Safety.

In a separate case, 13 people were held accountable for a disastrous hospital fire in 2005 in northeast China's Jilin Province, according to a verdict issued by the Liaoyuan Municipal Intermediate People's Court.

The blaze, which killed 37 people and injured 95 others on Dec. 15, 2005, was caused by a short circuit in the hospital's power distribution chamber, and spread rapidly as flammable material caught fire.

An investigation attributed the disaster to shoddy electrical wiring, improper installation violations, lack of supervision and mishandling.

Wang Shaowen, head of the hospital, Li Mingming, deputy head of the hospital and Jin Chengtai, former deputy head of the hospital were given sentences ranging from one to five years.

Zhang Diankun, the hospital's chief electrician, was sentenced to six years in prison.

Zhao Yonggang, chief of the hospital's general services section, was sentenced three years in prison with reprieve.

The heads of company that installed the wiring, Zhao Yongchun and Sun Fenglin, were sentenced to seven and six years in prison respectively.

Four staff responsible for purchasing the electric wire were sentenced to three to four years.

The fire caused direct economic losses of 8.21 million yuan (about 1 million U.S. dollars). The hospital reopened on Jan. 26 with many new facilities.

It is not known yet whether those who were convicted will appeal.

Source: Xinhua