China: 4 officials sacked after gypsum mine collapse

BEIJING

Four officials were sacked Tuesday in an eastern Chinese county where a collapse at a gypsum mine last week left one miner dead and 17 others trapped.

The government of Pingyi in Shandong Province said at an afternoon conference that the Party chief of the county, its head and its two deputy heads were removed from their posts for "a series of work safety incidents."

Of the 29 miners who were reportedly working when the gypsum mine collapsed Friday morning, one has been found dead, four escaped and seven others have been rescued.

The mine’s owner, Yurong company chairman Ma Congbo, drowned in an apparent suicide early Saturday morning by jumping into a well while working with rescuers searching for the 17 workers who remain trapped.

The efforts of hundreds of rescuers have been hampered by falling rocks and the persistent distortion of damaged shafts.

The cause of the collapse is still unclear and remains under investigation, while the provincial government has ordered gypsum mines to suspend operations for safety checks.

Chinese mines are among some of the deadliest in the world due to lax regulations and poor operating procedures.