China dishes out punishments after deadly factory blast

BEIJING -- The death toll from a factory explosion in East China's Jiangsu province in August has climbed to 146, official data showed on Tuesday.

The State Council said 18 suspects in the case will be prosecuted and 35 officials will be punished according to disciplines of the Communist Party of China (CPC) or code of behavior for civil servants.

Guan Aiguo, secretary of the CPC Kunshan municipal committee, and Lu Jun, mayor of Kunshan, were both removed from their posts.

Shi Heping, deputy governor of Jiangsu Province; Zhou Naixiang, mayor of Suzhou; and Wang Xiangming, director of Jiangsu provincial production safety bureau, all received official demerits.

The blast on Aug. 2 gutted a wheel hub polishing workshop in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province. Over 70 people were killed outright and 185 were injured. Dozens of the injured have since died.

A preliminary investigation found that the explosion followed the ignition of excessive metal dust in the workshop. It is believed that serious dereliction of duty was behind the accident.