Rescue workers have their meal during a rescue operation at the Shangjiuwu coal mine in Ruzhou city,central China's Henan Province, March 24, 2007. 15 miners were confirmed dead on Saturday. The accident occurred Friday morning at the Shangjiuwu coal mine in Ruzhou city, when 52 miners were working inside, said a local government source. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei) Photo Gallery>>>

    ZHENGZHOU, March 28 (Xinhua) -- The Pingdingshan municipal government in central China's Henan Province has decided to close down Shangjiuwu coal mine following last week's accident that killed 15 miners.

    The mine was flooded at around 11 p.m. last Thursday when 52 miners were working underground. However, mine managers chose to organize the rescue operations without reporting the accident to local work safety authorities.

    The local government received news of the accident from local residents on Friday morning and began coordinating rescue operations. The mine owner Wang Xianguo was later detained.

    Wang's predecessor has been arrested for trying to hide the fact that eight miners were killed in an explosion in the same mine last May.

    The Henan accident is the third coal mine accident in China since March 18 that owners and managers have attempted to cover up. A total of 42 miners died in the three accidents.

    Rescue work at a mine in north China's Shanxi Province on March18, at which a gas explosion claimed 21 lives, was delayed for 44 hours because of the mine owner's cover-up attempts.

    On the same day, a coal mine fire in northeast China's Liaoning Province killed six and injured 15 others. The mine owner Xiang Fangshu did not report it but on the second afternoon the disaster was reported by someone close to the company.

    Police have arrested Xiang Fangshu and five others involved in the cover-up attempt.

    "The blind pursuit of personal interest is the main reason mine owners try to cover up accidents instead of reporting them in time," said an official with the Henan provincial bureau of coal industry.

    "Mine owners will not only be liable for the economic losses incurred by major accidents but also be punished by the authorities. Moreover, accidents will bring malpractice to light and may lead to the closure of unsafe mines," according to the official.

    In Liaoning, a mine ceases production for three months when one person dies in an accident, six months for two deaths and a whole year for more than three deaths, said a senior official with the Liaoning provincial bureau of the coal industry.

    Some mine owners often risk severe punishment when their interests are threatened, the Liaoning official said.