[Shanxi Jingcheng Mining's first-instance verdict for concealing the death of a miner] October 9, 2026. On October 9, 2026, the People's Court of Yuanping City, Shanxi Province publicly pronounced the first-instance verdict on 41 defendants including Pan Dangren for the crime of major liability accidents, the crime of failing to report safety accidents, and the crime of bribery in accordance with the law. After trial, it was found that the defendants Pan Dangren and Wang Sudong invested in the establishment of Daixian Jingcheng Iron Mine and Daixian Chenglin Iron Mine respectively around 2003. During the integration of national resources in 2011, the two transferred the mining rights within their respective scopes to Daixian Jingcheng Mining Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Jingcheng Mining") and integrated them into one mine. The Jingcheng Iron Mine in Yuandai County has become the first mining area of ​​Jingcheng Mining, and the Chenglin Iron Mine in Yuandai County has become the second mining area of ​​Jingcheng Mining. Both parties share a mining license, but they still produce and operate independently in their respective mining areas. During the production and operation process, Pan Dangren and Wang Sudong contracted excavation and mining projects to multiple work teams without mining qualifications. After the work teams contracted, they subcontracted the projects to individuals without mining qualifications. They organized production without obtaining a production safety license, and failed to take preventive measures against potential accidents that endanger safety. They also did not have the capital investment necessary for safe production conditions. Insufficient production safety education and training, failure to formulate a complete emergency rescue plan, use of unlicensed motor vehicles for production operations, neglect of driver qualifications, illegal organization of production during the suspension of production, construction and rectification of mining enterprises, etc., resulted in 48 major casualty accidents between 2006 and 2022, resulting in 54 deaths. After some accidents occurred, the defendants Chen Kaisong and Chen Lipu and many other contracting team leaders and subcontractors failed to perform their reporting duties as required, which delayed the rescue of the accident. While Pan Dangren was operating Daixian Jingcheng Iron Mine and Jingcheng Mining No. 1 Mining Area, in order to seek illegitimate benefits, he successively gave a total of RMB 8,626,967 to a number of state workers. While Wang Sudong was operating Daixian Chenglin Iron Mine and Jingcheng Mining No. 2 Mining Area, in order to seek illegitimate benefits, he successively gave a total of RMB 2.705 million to a number of state workers. The court held that the defendants Pan Dangren, Wang Sudong and other 41 people, as personnel responsible for organizing, directing and managing production and operations, violated relevant safety management regulations during production and operations, resulting in major casualties. Their actions constituted the crime of major liability accidents. The defendant Chen Kaisong and other seven people failed to perform their reporting duties as required after the accident, thus delaying the rescue of the accident. Their actions constituted the crime of failing to report a safety accident. The defendants Pan Dangren and Wang Sudong gave property to state workers many times in order to seek improper benefits, and their behavior constituted the crime of bribery. Based on the facts, nature, circumstances, harmful consequences, and role of each defendant in the crime, each defendant was sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from 16 years to 1 year in accordance with the law, including the maximum sentence of fixed-term imprisonment for Pan Dangren for committing the crime of major liability accident. He was sentenced to 7 years in prison, and was sentenced to 11 years in prison for the crime of bribery. It was decided to execute the 16-year fixed-term prison sentence; the criminal policy of combining leniency with severity was implemented, and suspended sentences were applied in accordance with the law to the two defendants who were only responsible for the death of one person, had relatively minor crimes, had surrender circumstances, and met the probation conditions. During the trial of the case, the court protected the defendant's various litigation rights in accordance with the law. Some deputies to the National People's Congress, members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, representatives of the masses and relatives of the defendants attended the sentencing of the case. (CCTV News)