17 people stand public trial in snow on Sunday, Feb 24, for a coal mine gas blast that killed 105 miners and injured 18 others in north China's Shanxi Province in December last year. [Photo: photobase.cn]

Three people were sentenced on Sunday to life imprisonment for a coal mine gas blast that killed 105 people and injured eight others in the northern province of Shanxi in December.

The three are legal representative Wang Hongliang, investor Wang Donghai of Ruizhiyuan Coal Mining Co. Ltd., and Kong Huiping, a production manager at Xinyao Coal Mine, which was managed by the company. The ruling was handed down after a public trial held in a stadium in Linfen City.

The court also fined Wang Donghai 5 million yuan (699,301 U.S. dollars), Wang Honglian 15.2 million yuan and Kong Huiping 220,000 yuan.

Thirteen other managers, including the colliery manager Gao Jianmin and vice manager Qin Sanshun, received jail terms ranging from one year to 20 years, said the city court.

The company itself was fined 185.2 million yuan for illegal trade of explosives, illegal operation of an unapproved coal bed and tax evasion.

The explosion took place at 11:15 p.m. on Dec. 5 at Xinyao Coal Mine, Hongtong County, when 128 miners were working in the shaft, far more than the maximum of 60 per shift as approved by Shanxi coal mine authorities.

The accident also caused an economic loss of 42 million yuan.

According to the court ruling, the Ruizhiyuan company had repeatedly increased the output of the No. 2 coal bed in the Xinyao Coal Mine since 2004. It had also mined the No. 9 coal bed without approval. To conceal these illegal activities, the company had built a secret passage between the two coal beds, which was closed during inspections.

The explosion occurred in a 40-meter tunnel of the No. 9 coal bed, which was not only operating without approval but had no ventilation facilities. Gas built up in the unventilated area in excess of safety limits and was set off by sparks.

Managers delayed reporting the accident to local authorities while sending other workers down the shaft for rescue operations, the court said.

Wang Donghai and Wang Hongliang also incited Kong Huiping to buy black-market explosives and set up five illegal dynamite warehouses, according to the court. The company had bought 30,750 kilograms of dynamite and 23,000 detonators by December, said the court.