At least 27 miners were confirmed missing in two recent colliery accidents concealed by mine owners in the northeastern Heilongjiang Province, local authorities said on Tuesday.

Fourteen miners were missing after the Jianbao Coal Mine in Jixi City caved in on Feb. 28, but the mine manager only reported that two were trapped underground, according to the provincial work safety authority.

The Jixi government and Heilongjiang work safety bureau received reports from residents several days after the accident. They began investigations among nearby residents, as well as with relatives of the missing miners.

The licensed mine opened in 1996 with an annual production capability of 40,000 tons. It halted production on Jan. 1 as the Heilongjiang government ordered all small mines to conduct safety checks after a colliery gas blast claimed 19 lives in Muling City in December.

The mine resumed operation before it received approval, said a statement by the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS). It added that investigations into the cause of the cave-in were currently underway.

Rescuers pumped out about 80,000 cubic meters of floodwater, but none of the missing workers were found, local authorities said.

In another accident in the Taiyuan Coal Mine at Hegang City, 43 were trapped when the mine caught on fire on March 5. Thirty were rescued and 13 others went missing. The mine owner concealed the casualties; he reported everyone was safe.

The 13 missing had no hopes of survival because of high concentrations of toxic carbon monoxide gas. This hampered rescue work, according to rescue sources.

It was estimated the spreading underground fire would take at least a week to put out.

Preliminary investigations showed the accident was caused by an underground cable fire or improper use of welding equipment.

The Taiyuan mine was formerly a state-owned coal mine set up in 1978. It was bought by brothers Jin Yonghui and Jin Yongfu in 2001 and has an annual production capacity of 90,000 tons.

The city government issued an urgent circular asking all of the coal mines in the city to halt production. The directive applied even to licensed facilities.

Hegang police detained five suspects involved in the false reports, including the mine owner, a financial backer and three managers. The mine's assets were also frozen.

According to SAWS all the suspects will face severe penalties.

China's regulations prescribed that enterprises covering up work safety accidents or giving false reports should be fined up to five million yuan (704,000 U.S. dollars). Those responsible should be fined 60 to 100 percent of their annual income. They would also be prosecuted as criminals.

Colliery accidents, mainly gas blasts and cave-in, claimed 3,786 lives in 2007, down 20.1 percent from the previous year. SAWS cited illegal production, loose supervision, poor technologies and corruption as major causes of accidents.

"The production safety situation is improving nationwide, but relevant agencies still shoulder arduous tasks in the coming year, " said Li Yizhong, SAWS director.

China has closed 11,155 small coal mines in the last five years and invested more than 83 billion yuan (11.69 billion U.S. dollars) to upgrade coal mine safety technologies and equipment.

(Xinhua News Agency March 12, 2008)