Shanxi Province’s governor and vice-governor were removed from their posts, China’s official news agency Xinhua reported.
The New York Times said the move was a sign that the Chinese authorities were holding high-ranking officials personally accountable for China’s poor work safety conditions.
The newspaper reported that on Sunday the standing committee of the Shanxi Provincial People’s Congress accepted the resignation of Governor Meng Xuenong and the vice-governor was removed from his post at the same session.
Beijing has brought in the director of the State Administration for Work Safety Wang Jun as acting governor, in a bid to prove the country was serious about safety.
As well as the rock slide over the past two weeks, 45 Chinese coal miners died in four separate incidents including mine gas explosions and a mine flood.
China’s mine safety standards are thought to be the most dangerous in the world and the country recorded 3786 coal mining deaths in 2006, 111 times more than the United States death toll in 2007.
