Two accidents kill 11 in Xi'an
By Ma Lie (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-12-09 00:42

The Xi'an municipal government is putting more emphasis on work safety after three dozen people were injured or killed in two separate industrial accidents this week.

On Wednesday night, the city government held a press conference on work safety and Qiao Zheng, vice-mayor of Xi'an, called on all firms and work units within the construction industry to pay close attention to safety.

"We would rather make less buildings than have more tragedies take place," he said

Eleven people were killed and 25 injured in two separate incidents on Wednesday in the capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Eight of the injured are still in serious condition.

At 12:40 pm, 23 people riding a lift towards the roof of an auto mart in a western suburb of Xi'an fell after one of the lift's wires broke and tilted it to one side.

The lift's bottom platform then fell on the 23 people, killing six and injuring 17.

The lift was carrying the guests to the roof of a recently completed exhibition hall and had been used for construction materials. It was not approved for people, said a local official with the municipal government.

Local official sources said the dead and the injured are all business people and investors of the automobile repair shop. The investigation into the cause of the incident is ongoing.

The injured were sent to two nearby hospitals and the provincial and municipal officials called for a full investigation, said the official at a conference on work safety held on Wednesday.

In a separate incident, five were killed and eight injured in an explosion at 3:30 pm on Wednesday in a village in Huxian County.

The explosion also destroyed nine villagers' houses.

According to preliminary investigation results, the blast was caused by the illegal production of firecrackers, said local police.

The injured farmers were soon sent to the county's central hospital and doctors there said three of the eight had serious injuries.

Close

Today's Top News     Top China News
Market recognition benefits China-EU partnership         Foreign trade tops US$1 trillion         Polluting steel plants moving out         Goverment aims to fatten farmers wallets         Industrial output slows down mildly         Oil firm chief in Singapore free on bail	Goverment aims to fatten farmers wallets       Polluting steel plants moving out       Watchdog calls for check of power plants       Fishery guilds ink deal to quell fishing disputes       China to sponsor 7,245 studying abroad next year       Two accidents kill 11 in Xi'an