2 senior Inner Mongolia officials punished for mine collapse

BEIJING, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Two senior officials of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region have been subjected to disciplinary Party penalties as they were responsible for a severe mine collapse in February, according to an official statement on Tuesday.

Huang Zhiqiang, a standing committee member of the Communist Party of China (CPC) committee of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and a vice chairman of the regional government, was served a warning by the Party. Dai Qin, another vice chairman of the regional government, was handed a severe warning.

The decision to hand down penalties was made by the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and approved by the CPC Central Committee.

On Feb. 22, an open-pit mine in Alxa League in Inner Mongolia collapsed, killing 53 people, injuring six others, and bringing direct economic losses of over 200 million yuan (about 27.84 million U.S. dollars). A State Council investigation revealed that the coal company, the local Party committee and the local government were responsible for the accident.

A CCDI investigation found that Huang, who was in charge of Inner Mongolia's energy sector and affairs related to workplace safety, had neglected his administrative and supervisory duties related to the regulation of the autonomous region's coal industry.

Dai, who served as chief of Alxa League and secretary of the league's Party committee between September 2018 and February 2023, was found to have neglected his duties related to the administration and supervision of groups maintaining workplace safety.