An investigation has been launched in China into the latest mining incident in which more than 200 people are feared to have died. The move comes amid claims of a cover-up over the tragedy.
A number of Chinese newspapers and websites have reported that 70 miners bodies have been found so far but that as many as 200 people may still be trapped inside the Longquan tin Mine, in the southern province of Guangxi.
The miners became trapped inside the mine after a flooding accident on 16 July. An official with Longquan Mining Company confirmed that an accident did occur but denied reports that more than 200 miners were trapped and 70 bodies found.
"There was an accident in which miners dug into an abandoned mine filled with water and a number of people died," the official said. Miners work in three shifts, 24 hours a day in the 700-metre deep tin mine and there were usually between 200 and 300 miners on each shift, he said.
The official local newspaper, Wenhui Daily, said that more than 70 bodies had been found and alleged that the mine owners had tried to stop news of the disaster spreading, partly by paying compensation to relatives to buy their silence. Regional journalists said that they were barred from reporting on the disaster.
Wenhui Daily quoted a local villager as saying that at the time the mine flooded, there were five groups of 40 miners underground together with ten managers or safety supervisors.
