Work safety committee supervises handling of central China coal mine accident

BEIJING, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Work Safety Committee of China's State Council on Monday announced that it will supervise the handling of a coal mine accident that killed 16 people on Jan. 12 in Pingdingshan, central China's Henan Province.

In a statement, the committee called on the province to make prompt arrangements for relevant departments to cooperate with the National Mine Safety Administration's Henan bureau on the investigation, the identification of the cause of the accident, and the proposal of ways to handle the matter.

The statement said that an investigation report, as well as details of decisions and their implementation, must be sent to the Office of the Work Safety Committee in a timely manner once the case is closed.

The accident took place at 2:55 p.m. on Jan. 12 at a coal mine operated by Pingdingshan Tianan Coal Mining Co., Ltd. Preliminary investigation has indicated that it was caused by a coal and gas outburst.