A total of 1,467 people died in the first nine months of the year in accidents caused by officials' dereliction of duty, a senior prosecutor said yesterday.

The incidents also led to 154 people being seriously injured and caused economic losses of 1.6 billion yuan ($234 million), Chen Lianfu, director of the department of anti-dereliction of duty of the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP), said in a press release.

Since the start of the year, prosecutors have staged a series of campaigns to bring officials to justice.

More than 2,400 people linked to more than 2,000 cases have been investigated, he said.

"These efforts have achieved good results," Chen said.

In the first three quarters, more than 1,000 officials have been prosecuted or are currently awaiting trial, he said.

The numbers of crimes relating to the misuse of land and forestry resources, urban planning and transport have all risen this year, Chen said.

"Many accidents were a result of officials' concern only for making a profit, and involved favoritism and gross misconduct," he said.

Prosecutors across the country will continue to introduce measures to curb the activities of these officials, he said.

Chen said that if local officials attempt to hinder or influence an investigation, the case will be transferred to a prosecutor's office outside the region, or be handled by a higher-level authority.

Zhou Ke, a law professor at Beijing's Renmin University of China, said that while he acknowledged prosecutors' efforts, further legislation was needed to help fight crimes involving land, resources and the environment.

"We must have more serious penalties for those found guilty of such crimes," he told China Daily.

In another development, on Tuesday SPP procurator-general Cao Jianming called on the members of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) to work together to combat transnational crime.

(China Daily November 13, 2008)