(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-15 21:17

China hopes the Republic of Korea (ROK) can take active measures to protect the safety of Chinese workers and prevent accidents like the Icheon explosion from happening again, said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu on Tuesday.

She said the identities of the 12 Chinese victims have been verified and their families have arrived in ROK to deal with the aftermath of the tragedy.

According to Jiang, families of Chinese victims have agreed in principle on the compensation for the victims. Negotiation on the compensation of the injured workers will start soon.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is visiting ROK as special envoy of the Chinese government, sent food and commodities to the families of Chinese victims in Icheon, 80 km southeast of Seoul, and expressed his condolence to them through officials of the Chinese Embassy in ROK.

The explosion at a warehouse in Icheon killed 40 people, including 12 Chinese, and injured 10 others on January 7.