The statement by local government officials and the high death toll prodded the Central Government to delve deeper into the cause of the catastrophe. On September 11, it set up a special investigation team headed by Wang Jun. The team was composed of investigators from several national departments, including the Ministry of Land and Resources, the State Administration of Work Safety and the Ministry of Supervision.

The team's initial probe found that stored waste iron ore dregs had exceeded the holding capacity of the reservoir, causing the walls to collapse. Although it had increased its production of iron ore, the Tashan Mine was poorly equipped with safety facilities and had no regard for possible dangers, Wang Jun told Xinhua News Agency.

The province currently has more than 500 mine waste dumps, according to data from the Shanxi Provincial Administration of Work Safety. Local reports estimate that more than half of them currently operate illegally without safety licenses. Xinta's production-safety license was revoked in 2006, and the company did not renew its mining license when it expired in August 2007, the Xinhua article said. Furthermore, Xinta did not build a new iron ore waste dump as required by local safety rules, but overfilled the already fragile old one, despite complaints from the miners and local residents.

"The mine managers could not be clearer about the hidden dangers of the reservoir, but they did nothing," Liang Zhihong, a migrant worker at the mine, told the Outlook Weekly. "It was not a natural disaster; it was man-made."

Peng Guohua, another miner, was quoted by the Outlook Weekly as saying, "The black-hearted bosses make their fortune and leave behind a deadly mess."

Zhang Genhu, Director of Shanxi Provincial Administration of Work Safety, publicly said that unscrupulous mine owners had profited handsomely from reckless mining. The owners were not interested in investing in safety equipment, because it would cost much more than having to pay off the families of those who were killed in any accidents, said a report in China Daily.

Zhang added that the iron ore mines have not attracted much attention from government regulators, because most of the mines are open pits and less likely than coalmines to collapse and kill workers trapped inside them.

A battle of interests

Despite years of safety campaigns and clean-up efforts, China's mining sector still remains vulnerable to life-threatening accidents. The September 8 mudslide was the latest in a string of disasters to rock Linfen, a city with more than 400 mines. An appalling coalmine gas explosion in Hongdong County last December 15 claimed 105 lives.

In the wake of the September 8 calamity, the Chinese Government ordered urgent checks on mines throughout the country and a crackdown on disqualified mines to curb the recent upsurge in accidents.

But some insiders of the mining sector say they are concerned that the order may not have any immediate effect, because some grassroots governments may be less motivated to shut down illegal mines out of fear of hurting local employment levels and tax revenue.

Besides this, the country's brisk demand for iron ore for its booming industry also may make the safety orders difficult to enforce at the grass-roots level. Because iron ore is currently in short supply in China, the high profits from its sale have driven some mine owners to push their production levels beyond safety limits.

An additional problem is that some corrupt local officials have colluded with coalmine owners and usually have turned a blind eye to rampant illegal mining activities in return for a share of the profits. Some have even helped cover up the illegal activities of mine owners to protect their vested interests.

According to local news reports, the Work Safety Bureau of Xiangfen County had ordered Xinta to improve its safety equipment before the accident, but the company ignored it and relevant government departments did not crack down on the company and allowed it to continue operating.

More findings

The investigation team also has raised concerns about the part played by corrupt local officials in the disaster. Huang Yi, Spokesman of the State Administration of Work Safety, told Xinhua News Agency that it was likely that the unlicensed mining company had been operating with the tacit support of local officials. Otherwise, the mine should have been closed down long ago, he said.

Wang also raised questions about previous inspections of the mine. "Any inspection of the mine could have detected such a huge leaky ore waste reservoir, and how could it have escaped the safety tests?" he said.

Some central government officials say the collusion between mine owners and local bureaucrats defies any rigid safety regulatory system, so that only severe punishments could pose a deterrence for both of them.