Bus crash at China’s largest silver mine blamed on negligence as death toll reaches 22

A bus accident at China’s largest silver mine that killed more than 20 miners has been blamed by safety officials on negligence by the mine’s operators.

Saturday morning’s accident at the Yinman Mining-operated site in China’s northern Inner Mongolia autonomous region involved a bus transporting workers underground that was broken-down, routinely overloaded and operating on a ramp not intended for transporting people, emergency management ministry officials said after the vehicle crashed, initially killing 21 miners and injuring 29.

One of the injured died on Sunday, Xinhua quoted the authorities as saying on Monday.

The official news agency later added that 10 suspects had been detained by police for allegedly “negligently causing a serious accident” and another suspect was on bail pending trial.

The bus had been bought online, had not been inspected or registered, and had a capacity of 30 passengers, 20 fewer than were on board, head of the department of safe production infrastructure Pei Wentian told state broadcaster CCTV.

Pei said that the mine’s operator Yinman Mining had also been negligent in passing on responsibility for safety in the tunnel to subcontractors, and that safety inspectors had failed to ensure required upgrades were implemented. The brakes failed before the bus crashed into a protruding wall inside the tunnel at the mine. Company executives have been placed under travel restrictions while the investigation continues, although there has been no word yet of possible criminal charges.