Official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported that mine owners in northern China hid victims of a mine explosion and silenced family members with threats and money.
The local Communist Party chief and county head have been sacked and are under investigation over the incident.
The accident took place on July 14 in the Lijiawa Coal mine when illegally stored explosives ignited and killed miners underground.
Another 23 officials of government departments are also under investigation.
Xinhua reported that some townspeople and county officials had collaborated with mine owners to disguise the tragedy.
China’s coal mines are viewed as the most dangerous in the world, with the country recording 3786 coal mining deaths in 2006.
Last month two top officials from the mine-accident plagued Shanxi Province lost their jobs over the death of at least 254 villagers, who died when their homes were engulfed by muddy waste from the reservoir of an unlicensed mine.
