A total of 819 Party and government officials and workers have been punished for dereliction of duty in 33 "particularly serious" production safety cases over the past five years, according to the Ministry of Supervision.

The investigation of these cases was directly conducted by the ministry, and 531 of the officials had been sent to judicial organs for prosecution, said a statement released Monday by the ministry.

According to the statement, the investigation was focused on officials' misconduct that directly resulted in these production safety incidents as well as separate clues on corruptive behaviors unearthed during the action.

The statement cited one case involving the cover-up of an explosion in a mine in northern Hebei province. The investigation into the cover-up found a number of officials with the local supervision offices had illegally invested in the mine.

Meanwhile, officials and workers with the local government, Party committee as well as multiple departments of safety supervision, coal mine supervision, land and resources, public security and electricity were found to have been bribed to help cover up the incident.

According to the ministry, a total of 72 officials were found to have corruptive behaviors during the investigation into these cases, and 65 were handed to judicial organs.

(Xinhua News Agency April 9, 2012)