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10 held over tunnel collapse
30/03/2007 21:06 - (SA)
Beijing - Ten people have been detained after a tunnel being dug for the Beijing Olympics collapsed apparently killing six, state media said on Thursday, as reports surfaced of an attempted cover-up.
Those held by police included the supervisor and designers of the subway tunnel, reported the Beijing Times newspaper.
The labour contractor remained at large and was being sought by police.
Official media have said the state-run construction company tried to conceal the incident, waiting at least eight hours before notifying authorities and employing its own rescue teams after the accident early on Wednesday.
Six workers remained missing about 11 metres underground as of Thursday, according to state television.
No new reports were issued on Wednesday on the rescue effort and officials have said the men are likely dead.
'Top-quality Olympics' promised
The subway project is part of a $40bn spending spree undertaken by the city to get its infrastructure up to speed in time for the August 2008 Games.
President Hu Jintao promised last week that China would stage a top-quality Olympics, but problems have begun to emerge as the city races to get ready.
Cost overruns were affecting construction firms, some of which had failed to pay workers' wages, said city officials recently.
The director of Games-related construction, Wu Jingjun, said on Wednesday that the main Olympic Stadium would not be completed this year as originally planned and that pressure was mounting on other projects.
Wu said: "We may have a pretty busy schedule for some individual venues and we may have to further speed up our efforts, but I can assure you that quality will not suffer as a result."
Line runs to Olympic Village
State television blamed the tunnel collapse on "porous soil" but gave no other details.
It occurred in the city's Haidian university district on the number 10 subway line, which will connect to a separate line running directly to the Olympic Village north of Beijing when it is finished in 2008.
It was unclear whether the accident would affect the completion timetable.
A spokesperson for the Olympic organising committee declined comment when contacted on Friday.
City officials could not be reached but have refused comment previously.
Locked gates 'part of cover-up'
As part of the cover-up the construction firm, China Railway 12th Bureau Group Co Ltd asked its rescuers to hand over their cellphones and locked the gate to the site, said the Beijing Times.
City police learned of the accident several hours after it happened when a migrant construction worker secretly called police in his home province of Henan.
Beijing is building four subway lines and a light rail line to the city airport that are slated to be finished before the Games.
- AFP
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