Death toll in China summer explosion climbs to 146

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Death toll in China summer explosion climbs to 146 : state media

AFP
December 31, 2014, 5:04 am

Beijing (AFP) - The death toll from an August factory explosion in China has risen to 146 in the months since the blast and dozens of officials will be punished over the case, state media reported Tuesday.

Guan Aiguo, Communist Party secretary for the city of Kunshan where the blast happened, and city mayor Lu Jun were both dismissed from their posts, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The explosion on August 2 was caused by the ignition of metal dust in a wheel hub polishing workshop at Kunshan in the eastern province of Jiangsu. It partially destroyed the factory.

More than 70 people were initially killed in the explosion with a further 185 injured, but dozens had since succumbed to their wounds, Xinhua said.

The deputy governor of Jiangsu, the mayor of Suzhou city of which Kunshan is a part, and the director of the provincial safety bureau would be officially reprimanded, Xinhua said.

A total of 35 officials would be punished under internal Communist Party rules and an additional 18 suspects would face criminal prosecution, it said.

Authorities have detained five company officials, the People's Daily newspaper reported in the days after the blast.

At the time of the blast Kunshan, known as a centre for Taiwanese investment in China, could not handle the number of injured and many were sent to hospitals in surrounding areas including Shanghai.

State media at the time said the plant produced car parts for automotive companies, including US giant General Motors.

China has a dismal industrial safety record. Some factory owners evade regulations to save money and pay off corrupt officials to look the other way.

Workplace accidents of all types killed nearly 70,000 people in China last year, according to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics.