CHONGQING, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Excessive use of explosives and poor evacuation procedures were to blame for the deaths of 30 people in a southwest China colliery Saturday, a senior official in charge of the country's work safety organization said.

    "The May 30 accident is a major safety accident caused by an illegal practices that violated mining rules," said Luo Lin, chief of the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) on Sunday.

Rescuers wait at the entrance to a coal mine where a colliery gas burst at Tonghua Coal Mine in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, on May 30, 2009. The accident has killed 30 and injured 59 miners.  (Xinhua/Liu Chan) Photo Gallery>>>

    Zhao Tiechui, head of the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety (SACMS), pointed out that an excessive amount of explosives directly triggered the accident.

    "Coal mine owners put the emphasis on accelerating construction instead of work safety," said Zhao.

    Workers should have been evacuated before detonation, he said. "The mine's managers didn't evacuate workers in time."

    On Sunday, an investigation team under the State Council was set up.

    The explosion occurred around 11 a.m. at Tonghua Coal Mine in Anwen Town of Qijiang County, when 131 miners were working about 1,000 meters underground.

    One hundred and one miners were rescued, and 77 of them were injured, as compared with 59 in previous reports, said Liu Guangcai, deputy director of Chongqing Work Safety Bureau, on Sunday.

    They are being treated in four hospitals and an emergency treatment center. Three were critically ill and seven seriously.

    Coal mine general manager Yi Zheng, chief engineer Chen Youming and Liu Qiang, project manager with Chuanjiu Construction Company, have been detained. Chuanjiu Construction Company built the mine.

    You Mingyuan, deputy general manager with Songzao Coal and Electricity Company, and Peng Zhiqiang, board chairman of Chuanjiu Construction Company, have been suspended from their posts.

    The Tonghua Coal Mine, with a history of more than 50 years, is affiliated with the state-owned Songzao Mining Bureau of Chongqing. The colliery's designed production capacity was 300,000tonnes per year, but this was expanded to 600,000 tonnes.