China's coalmine death rate per million tons is some 50-fold higher than the rates in many developed countries, sending alarming signals to the state work safety body, reported the People's Daily Online Tuesday.

Members of a rescue team walk out from the mine entrance in the morning of July 16, 2006. A coal mine blast, which occurs at 4 pm on July 15th, kills 18 miners and traps 39 others in the Linjiazhuang Coal Mine of Jinzhong City in North China's Shanxi Province. [Xinhua]

Death rate per million tons is a key index to assess the mining safety adopted by many big coal producers worldwide.

"The rate here in China down to 2.04 last year from 2.83 in 2005, but many developed countries, such as US and Australia keep it as low as 0.04," Li Yizhong, director of the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) said.

Li contributed the high rate to the low input into the safety measure and high output of coal production rising along with the death toll.

"Management staffs at all levels must assume their full of responsibility for coalmine safety. Many small companies and coalmines simply seek profit but neglect regulation, law and even lives," Li continued.

According to the statistics released by the SAWS on March 11, 4,746 people were killed in 2,945 coalmine accidents last year.

The SAWS attributed the drop in the number of deaths to a series of campaigns against accident-prone pits and its efforts to improve safety in mines.