China's Sichuan province has ordered all small coal mines closed after a weekend spate of accidents killed 51 miners, the official China Dailynewspaper reported today.
The toll included 39 convicts believed to have drowned when a prison-run coal mine filled with water on Friday near Yibin and 12 miners died in two gas explosions on Sunday.
Small mines in the southwestern province would be closed and inspected by safety teams while large mines were ordered to check safety conditions, the China Dailyand Xinhua news agency reported.
The newspaper said the provincial government was considering pressing charges against officials if they were found to have broken laws or neglected their duties.
Yesterday a Sichuan Security Supervision Bureau told Reuters rescue workers had given up hope of saving the 39 convicts trapped by surging waters in the prison-run Qinglongzui mine.