China Executes Party Official in Mine Disaster That Killed 81 Feb 20, 2004 The Associated Press BEIJING (AP) - A former Communist Party official was executed Friday for trying to cover up a tin mine accident that killed 81 people in 2001, the government announced. Wan Ruizhong, a former county party secretary in the southern region of Guangxi, was convicted of taking bribes from mine managers to conceal the July 17, 2001, accident. Other officials convicted in the disaster have been sentenced to up to 20 years in prison. The government says miners at the Lajiapo mine drowned when blasting...