The governor of North China's Shanxi Province said on Friday coal mines that failed to reach safety standards would be shut down within three months.

 

The pledge came in the wake of two colliery accidents that killed 47 miners in the province, the country's coal production base.

 

On March 18, a coal mine gas blast in Jincheng, Shanxi Province, killed all 21 people working underground at the time.

 

Another explosion in a coal mine in Linfen on Wednesday also led to the deaths of 26 miners.

 

Shanxi will launch a campaign to root out all illegal coal mines operating in the province, said Governor Yu Youjun.

 

Small mines that were ordered to merge their operations with registered pits that had adequate safety equipment, mines producing coal in excess of capacity, and illegal mines operating without approval would be "shut down unconditionally", Yu said.

 

"Mayors and county chiefs will take responsibility during this crackdown," Yu told China News Service on Friday.

 

"They will be severely punished if any problems arise."

 

Yu said the recent accidents "exposed the weak links in colliery safety supervision" of the province.

 

He ordered local governments to "get tough" on coal mines to prevent further accidents.

 

China has launched a campaign to close or merge small coal mines with an annual output of up to 30,000 tons, where most of the accidents occur.

 

Besides the nearly 6,000 small mines that were shut down, roughly the same number will be closed by 2008, which will reduce the number of small mines to around 10,000 by then, the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) said.

 

A SAWS spokesman said on Friday it would severely punish those involved in recent cover-ups of colliery accidents, like the Jincheng blast on March 18.

 

The mine owner covered up the disaster and fled, which led to a delay of nearly two days before rescue work started.

 

"Laws and regulations have specific clauses on cover-ups and we will stamp out these activities in accordance with them," said spokesman Huang Yi.

 

"The cover-up showed that some coal mine owners are turning a blind eye to the nation's laws, government supervision and the lives of miners," said a statement issued by the SAWS after the accident.