Deaths up pressure for China safety crackdown

Soaring death toll prompts calls for 'militarized' controls

Rescuers take a break after working to rescue 39 miners trapped in this Songshu pit after an explosion

(CNN) -- Pressure is mounting on the Chinese government to toughen safety legislation in the country's huge mining industry after a spate of accidents killed more than 170 laborers in the first week of July.

A commentary in the People's Daily Website Thursday proposed that Beijing centralize control over mining activities, which, particularly in heartland provinces, are run by private businessmen or collective enterprises with scant regard to the letter of the law.

The article proposed that the state set up special squads to police mining areas, and that Beijing should exercise "direct, militarized" control to ensure safety standards and to prevent the loss of state assets.

According to a report issued earlier this week by the State Bureau on Safe Production, a major reason behind the profusion of ill-equipped mines was "local protectionism."

This meant that provincial and county authorities were reluctant to strictly enforce safety regulations because the mines made significant contributions to local income and employment.

Rising prices

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The report added that the rise in the price of coal the past year had spawned a rash of new coal mines, many of which were small unlicensed outfits run by unscrupulous businessmen with little regard for the safety of their employees.

An investigation by the official Legal Daily pointed out that corruption and dereliction of duty were suspected in the district of Fanzhi, Shanxi Province, where a number of fatal accidents involving small gold mines had taken place.

Late last month, the owner of an ill-equipped mine tried to destroy evidence and remove the corpses after up to 40 miners had died in an accident.

The Legal Daily said local authorities "cannot shirk their responsibility" over the fact that more than 300 private and, in many instances, illegal gold mines had cropped up in the past few years.

The paper quoted miners as saying that deaths due to accidents had taken place in almost all the mines.

Latest figures showed that more than 12,000 workers died in workplace accidents last year -- almost half of the fatalities in mining accidents.

State media has reported that the National People's Congress, China's legislature, is looking at ways to toughen up existing legislation on industrial safety, particularly those covering private and collectively owned mines.