China saw increases of accidents in major production safety areas in the first quarter with a total of 4,608 cases recorded, leading to 3,935 deaths, the Ministry of Emergency Management told a routine press conference on Tuesday, among which the tragic crash of China Eastern flight MU5375 was the major incident.
While the total number of production safety accidents across the country has dropped significant on a year-on-year basis, the number of major and particularly severe incidents has rebounded, among which four particularly severe incidents occurred in regions such as Southwest China’s Guizhou and Northeast China’s Liaoning in air transport, construction, mining and fishing industries, Shen Zhanli, spokesperson of the ministry, told the press conference.
All 132 people ̶ 123 passengers and 9 crew members ̶ onboard flight MU5735, which crashed on March 21 in South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, were confirmed dead. After the tragic incident, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) recently said the industry must engage in deep reflection over the recent crash, and vowed to ensure an absolute safety of aviation operations and public safety.
A major issue for the security area in the first quarter is that the transportation of dangerous goods and passenger safety risks in the field of transportation are prominent, and air accidents have occurred in civil aviation, Shen said on Monday. Other issues include illegal mining and illegal construction, which also lead to growing security risks. Meanwhile, illegal fishing could also lead to more accidents especially during the periods when fishing is banned.
In the first quarter, various natural disasters including low-temperature freezing, snow disasters, earthquakes and so on caused in total direct economic losses of 15.03 billion yuan ($2.36 billion), affecting 9.53 million people with six dead, according to the press conference.
Victims of crashed China Eastern Airlines Flight MU5735, RIP!
