Fatal slide official dismissed

By Tom Qian  |   2009-5-25  |     ONLINE EDITION

THE former Party secretary of Linfen in Shanxi Province was dismissed from his post as a member of the provincial people's congress today in Jincheng City, people.com.cn reported.

Xia Zhengui, was suspended in April following investigations into the cause of a fatal mud and rock slide that killed 276 people last year. Xie Hai was appointed as Party secretary of Linfen instead.

The tragedy occurred on the morning of September 8 when the banks of a reservoir holding dregs from waste ore burst at the Tashan Mine in Xiangfen County, Linfen City.

The mud, mixed with fragments of ore, slid down the mountainside, destroying buildings, markets and homes.

This accident also led to the resignation of Meng Xuenong, the governor of Shanxi Province, who quit six days after the incident, and the dismissal of Zhang Jianmin, vice governor of Shanxi.

On December 5, 2007, a fatal gas explosion occurred in Linfen City at Xinyao Coal Mine, in Hongtong County.

The blast occurred when 128 miners were working in the shaft - a violation of the 60-miner per shift maximum approved by the Shanxi coal mine authority. The explosion killed 105 miners and injured 18 others.