Scaffolding at a newly built industrial chimney in the city of Anyang, in central China's Henan Province collapsed Wednesday morning, leaving 21 workers dead and nine injured.

The tragedy occurred at about 9:20 AM, when a clinch bolt at the foot of the scaffolding loosened and the men fell from a height of 63 meters. Officials said the loosening of the bolt was likely caused by rainfall that had made the ground slippery.

It had rained heavily on the previous day, but how the rain caused the bolt to loosen was not immediately known.

The chimney was being completed by the Henan Construction Group's No. 7 Company for the second phase of a project of Ancai Group, a color display tube production giant.

The scaffolding reportedly began to break away just as the chimney was finished and the workers were about to leave.

All the workers on the scaffold fell as it collapsed. The injured were rushed to nearby hospitals.

Governor Li Chengyu visited the hospitalized victims and then met with investigators at the accident site. Local government officials moved quickly to deal with the emergency.

The disaster follows other major accidents in Jilin, Beijing and Sichuan, which led to the sacking of a number of high-ranking officials.

Ancai Group, with assets totaling 11.7 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion) and employing more than 10,000 people, refused to comment on the accident Wednesday.

Also on Wednesday, a bus carrying 33 passengers fell from a bridge in east China's Zhejiang Province, killing at least 23 people. An investigation is still under way.

The accident occurred at 2:20 PM. when the bus was traveling on the expressway from the capital of Hangzhou to Kunshan City. It suddenly broke through the barrier of a bridge and flipped as it fell to the ground at least ten meters beneath.

(China Daily, Xinhua May 13, 2004)