Ma Congbo, president of Yurong Commerce and Trade Ltd. Co. and owner of a mine in Shandong Province, China, committed suicide as rescue workers attempted to retrieve 17 of his workers from a collapsed gypsum mine in Pingyi county. The Chinese executive jumped into a mine well, ultimately drowning himself, Sunday morning, according to NBC News.
The gypsum mine collapsed Friday morning at the same time the China Earthquake Networks Center reported that a magnitude 4.0 earthquake had hit Pingyi county. The center eventually stated that the quake was caused by the mine collapse.
Among the 29 who were initially trapped, one miner has already been confirmed dead. Seventeen miners remain trapped inside the mine, four escaped and the rest were already retrieved by rescue workers, reported CNN.
Ma's mine had already been included in the local work safety administration's watch list. Just last October, the mine was ordered to cease all its operations until it meets the necessary safety standards. It is, however, believed that despite the sanction, the mine remained operational.
China recently enacted a set of grave punishments for employers who are negligent. Thus, though Ma's exact motives behind his suicide are unclear, it is believed his motivation is connected to the severe punishments waiting for him once the rescue operations in his mine are completed, according to BBC News.
The mine collapse comes just days after a massive landslide caused by construction waste in southern China left 75 people buried under meters of mud and construction waste.
