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An ex-official and legal owner of a coal mine in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province was recently sentenced to five years in jail for a deadly blast last year.

The accident occurred March 14 in Xinfu Coal Mine in Qitaihe City, killing 18 people and severely injuring another. Direct economic losses for the accident totaled 4.27 million yuan (US$526,500), Xinhua said.

Investigations found that poor ventilation in the shaft led the flammable gas to accumulate and a miner ignited the gas when he tried to change a light bulb.

Peng Guocai, former vice director of the work safety bureau of Qitaihe, was the owner and investor of the mine. He obtained a license for the mine through his elder brother, vice general manager of the parent company of the Xinfu mine, even though it failed security standards.

Peng averted his 180,000-yuan bank deposits and refused to clear up the aftermath of accident. He did not acknowledge that he was the owner of the mine until evidence found by the police refuted his lies.

Apart from the Xinfu mine, Peng became the contracted owner of another mine in Longdong area with the help of his brother. The official got 80,000 yuan in compensation from the local government after promising to close the mine in early 2002 out of safety concerns. However, the mine continued to operate until the accident occurred.

China is closing 5,290 coal mines in a safety crackdown on the world's deadliest mining industry, the central government announced earlier this month.

The figure is higher than a previously reported estimate of 4,000 mines that would be closed after safety inspections in 2005, Xinhua said. It cited figures released at a conference held by the State Administration of Work Safety.

The government has launched a series of safety campaigns in recent years in an attempt to rein in accidents that kill more than 5,000 Chinese coal miners annually.

(Shenzhen Daily January 24, 2006)