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BEIJING (AP) - China is suspending production at 7,000 coal mines — nearly one-third of the nationwide total — in a safety crackdown on the accident-plagued industry, a government newspaper reported Wednesday.
The mines, most of them small and poorly equipped, will be required to improve safety measures and will not be allowed to reopen if they fail to meet national standards, the China Daily said.
The announcement came two days after 123 miners missing in a flooded coal mine in southern China were declared dead in a highly publicized disaster. Eleven mine officials blamed for the accident have been detained and two local mayors dismissed.
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