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BEIJING: China pledged Tuesday to investigate a report that
officials covered up the deaths of at least 10 workers building the
main stadium for the August Beijing Olympics.
Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper alleged that
the workers died as safety standards slipped during a rush to
complete the 90,000-seat National Stadium, known as the Bird’s
Nest.
“This is the first I have heard of this,” Li
Yizhong, China’s work safety minister, told a press conference
here.
“I will ask the Beijing work safety watchdog
to conduct an investigation and if this is found to be the case,
severe punishment will be administered according to the law.”
The Sunday Times cited several unnamed witnesses
to the deaths and alleged that officials had paid unusually high
amounts of compensation to silence the families of dead
employees.
China’s work safety record is appalling and
tens of thousands of people die every year in mines, factories and
on construction sites.
But officials have never admitted to a single
death on any of the dozens of Olympic construction sites.
Earlier, Sun Weide, spokesman for the Beijing
Olympics organizing committee, dismissed the report as untrue.
He said safety standards were rigorous and there
was no rush to complete any venues for the Games, which run from
August 8 to 24.
Of the 37 arenas, 36 have already been finished
while the National Stadium is scheduled to be completed by April.
“Construction of the National Stadium is going
according to plan and under proper safety standards,” Sun added.
-- AFP
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