Three officials of Guangdong Province's safety supervision authority were suspended for their illicit acts in connection with the Aug. 7 Daxing mine accident that killed 123 miners, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported Thursday.

The suspension was announced by the provincial commission for discipline inspection of the CPC on Wednesday.

Chen Jianchang, vice director of the Guangdong Provincial Administration of Work Safety, and Tan Junwei and Wang Zhencheng, two section chiefs, were suspended.

An initial investigation shows that the mine owners ignored the country's laws, forcing miners to continue coal production even after the provincial government issued a regulation July 14, which ordered all the mines to stop production before eliminating the safety hazards to be qualified for opening.

However, the mine owners had miners continued working underground, with the help of some officials with the safety supervision authorities who colluded for profits, at the risk of miners' lives until the accident.

The three suspended officials allegedly accepted money and properties from the mine owners, issued operation permit against the law and failed to supervise the production.

The discipline inspection authorities are also probing how the two mine owners got their policemen's identities and opened the mine as policemen.

(Shenzhen Daily September 2, 2005)