Four coal mine accidents in July, three of them fatal, were covered up, a State report released on Tuesday said.

The State Administration of Work Safety report on Tuesday said that on July 4, flooding at the Qielichong Coal Mine in Leiyang, Hunan province, trapped 16 miners. The owner concealed the accident and fled, delaying the rescue for 12 hours. Eight people died.

Thirteen days later, a gas blast that killed three people at Puxijing Coal Mine in Chenzhou, also in Hunan, went unreported.