Industrial accidents claimed the lives of 165 people in Beijing in the first 11 months of this year, according to a bulletin released Wednesday by the Beijing Municipal Industrial Safety Bureau.

Statistics showed that of the 165 dead, 143 had been migrant workers, accounting for 86.7 percent of the total and up 36.2 percent from the same period of last year.

Li Jianwei, the director of the bureau, said that the industrial safety situation in Beijing is alarming, especially in the construction sector, which has witnessed the deaths of 81 workers so far this year, an increase of 44.6 percent over the same period of 2002.

In addition, coal mine accidents killed 53 people, over twice as many as last year. And most of the victims are non-local rural laborers, Li said.

Violation of work safety rules was said to be the main cause of most accidents. Besides, some enterprises, especially private enterprises, have invested little in improving safety facilities, in favor of chasing profits, said Li.

The government should strengthen law enforcement with regard to enterprises which violate industrial safety rules, said Li.

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