中国当局证实，中国北方一个煤矿爆炸导致35人死亡的事故被隐瞒了近三个月。中国国家安全生产监督管理局新闻发言人黄毅星期五对记者说，25名官员因瞒报被开除，另外22人被起诉。警方还拘留了煤矿老板兄弟三人。
7月14日，河北蔚县李家洼煤矿非法储存在矿井下的炸药发生爆炸。中国官方新华社报导，矿主极力隐瞒事故不报，私自销毁尸体和事故现场。并且威逼利诱受难者家属保持沉默。
Chinese authorities have confirmed that 35 people died in a northern China coal mine blast that was covered up for almost three months. A spokesman for China’s workplace safety agency (Huang Yi) told reporters Friday that 25 officials were fired over the cover-up and 22 others were prosecuted. Police also detained three brothers who own the mine.
The explosion in the mine (in Yuxian County) in Hebei province took place on July 14th when explosives illegally stored in the pit ignited. China’s official news agency Xinhua reports that the mine owners tried to cover up the accident, destroying the bodies and hiding evidence of the explosion. It says they also tried to silence the victims’ relatives with bribes and threats.