JINAN, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Two officials in east China's Shandong Province have been removed from their positions in relation to Sunday's mine blast, which has left 22 workers trapped below ground.
The Shandong provincial committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has announced the removal of Yao Xiuxia from the post of secretary of the CPC municipal committee of Qixia and Zhu Tao from the posts of deputy secretary of the CPC municipal committee of Qixia and the mayor of Qixia.
The explosion ripped through a gold mine that was under construction at 2 p.m. on Sunday in Qixia, administrated by the city of Yantai. The local government did not receive an accident report from the mining company until Monday evening.
Li Bo, vice mayor of Yantai, has been named as acting secretary of the CPC municipal committee of Qixia.
Rescuers are still unable to reach the workers trapped underground, as debris from the explosion has blocked the mine shaft. Current rescue efforts involve drilling a new channel and entering the mine through a lift cage to remove the debris. ■
