A top safety watchdog has retracted its verdict of a suspected gas leak in Jilin which left hundreds of people sick, after it conflicted with the findings of another central government agency. The move has raised questions over the credibility of the two agencies.
On Monday, on its official website, the State Administration of Work Safety said that it should increase supervision on chemical plants, and learn from a leak at the Jilin Connell Chemical Industry Co the previous week, essentially confirming that there had been such an accident.
The statement caused a stir because a panel of experts organised by the Ministry of Health last week ruled out the possibility of pollution after hundreds of workers from a neighbouring plant, Jilin Chemical Fibre Co, had reported that they had become ill, prompting an investigation.
However, after widespread media coverage of the conflicting reports, the work safety administration quietly removed mention of the gas leak from its statement.
An unidentified official told The Beijing News that the leak had been caused by 'an error at work, and the administration had rectified it'.
The reversal caused an uproar, with media questioning if the deletion had been more than just a mistake. 'The administration owes the public a sensible explanation. Neither the image of the city nor the interests of authorities should be a reason for hiding the truth,' the newspaper said in an editorial.