Parties on the scene at four coal mine accidents in July – three of which were confirmed to be fatal – reportedly failed to report various mine safety breaches, delaying rescue efforts in one case by 12 hours.

According to a report by China Daily, two coal mines in Hunan province and two others in Guizhou and Shanxi provinces tried to “cover up” various emergencies in neglecting to acknowledge the accidents to safety authorities and rescue response teams.

The mines accused of accident concealment include:

• Qielichong (Hunan), mine flooded on July 4. Eight dead
• Puxijing (Hunan), gas blast on July 17. Three dead
• Anlilai (Guizhou), shaft collapse on July 25. Five still trapped
• Yangquan (Shanxi), gas blast on July 26. Seven dead.

In the Anlilai incident, the mine boss attempted to organize an independent rescue mission without notifying official authorities.

A second collapse went on to trap 53 rescuers who were later rescued.

Local residents eventually called emergency services to the site but the five miners trapped by Anlilai’s initial cave-in are still unaccounted for as the rescue efforts continue.

After authorities discovered the explosion at Yangquan, the mine owner continued to withhold the true number of casualties, according to China Daily.

Chinese work safety regulations state that in case of any coal mine accident, the responsible company must report within one hour to the local safety supervisory department.

Punishment for the offending parties has not yet been confirmed.