Prosecutors: Mine bosses hid blast tragedy

BEIJING, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Chinese prosecutors say mine bosses and journalists conspired to cover up a Hebei province mining disaster last year.

Thirty-four miners and a rescuer were killed in the July 14, 2008, explosion at the Lijiawa mine, but prosecutors say mine officials moved bodies and paid journalists $380,000 to keep the details of the blast quiet, the state-run Chinese news agency Xinhua reported Monday.

Nearly 50 officials have been charged in the case, in which relatives of the dead also allegedly kept quiet with a combination of large payments and threats, ultimately succeeding in suppressing news of the tragedy for 85 days, until after the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games.

Xinhua said the identities of the journalists charged have been not been revealed, but reports indicate one of them is China Internet Weekly reporter Guan Jian, who reportedly was arrested in Shanxi province in December was tried in April on allegations he took bribes from Yuxian county officials after the mining accident.