The National Bureau of Production Safety Supervision & Administration sent out a circular in late-August requiring all officials who invested in coal mines to retract their stakes, with a September 22 deadline.

The circular warned that officials who refused to withdraw their investment would be removed from their posts. Among the officials who followed the instruction, 325 were government officials and 172 were company officials in state-owned enterprises, Xinhuanet reported.

Collusion between mine owners and officials has been partly blamed for China’s high fatality rates. Local officials with part stakes in coal mines do not subject these mines to inspections.

In last month’s Daxing coal mine disaster, which claimed 123 lives, the mine owners were the delegates to the local people's congress. At the Xinfu coal mine accident, which killed 18, the owners included the deputy director of the local work safety administration.

The head of the Coal Industry Bureau of Huangling County, in China's Shaanxi Province, was suspended from work on Saturday.

Bai Wenjie is being held accountable for the Qifenggouxi coal mine gas blast that killed 12 miners nearly two weeks ago. The accident was covered up for days until reports emerged in the media.

Meanwhile, three miners were confirmed dead in last week’s cave in at the Daihe coal mine of Huaibei Coal Mining Group in east China's Anhui Province. Two of the miners were rescued but three others were found dead on Saturday.