Inside China Today

Shanxi exposes another cover up disaster

A Liaowang reporter has recently revealed the death toll at Shanxi Loufan mine was not just nine people as reported by officials, but 41 people. On August 1st, landslides occurred in Loufan County at Shanxi Province causing heavy casualties; the official reported that the number of deaths was nine.

At the time of the incident, Liaowang reporter, Sun Chunlong, investigated the accident and following several days’ enquiries, the reporter had a list of 41 people who had died. He believes this is only a small number of the people. The information his received seems to suggest the death toll was at least a hundred or more.

At the time, officials only dug up 11 bodies and then stopped digging. As a result, the families of the victims had to petition the county government. They urged them to dig up their loved ones’ remains as soon as possible, but many people were taken away and detained by police, some for several hours. Another person who had lost six family members, and came into conflict with police, was given an electric shock by police batons and then beaten.

In China, once there is a death toll over 10 people, it is necessary to report to the central government or local officials face removal from office, coupled with other political risks. This seems to suggest why there is only nine casualties in official reports.