The New York Times-20080129-Beijing Confirms Deaths of 6 Workers at Olympic Construction Sites

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Beijing Confirms Deaths of 6 Workers at Olympic Construction Sites

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Municipal officials said Monday that six workers had died and four had been injured at the National Stadium and other Olympic sites since construction for the 2008 Games began five years ago.

The announcement, the first official confirmation of deaths at the city's Olympic construction sites, was intended to refute a recent account in the British press, which reported that at least 10 workers had died while working at the National Stadium.

Ding Zhenkuan, deputy chief of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Work Safety, said two workers were killed at the National Stadium in accidents in 2006 and 2007. Mr. Ding offered no details, but said that the accidents had been reported to government agencies and that punishments had been meted out.

This month, The Sunday Times of London, citing interviews with anonymous migrant workers, concluded that at least 10 workers had died at the National Stadium, a modernist structure known as the bird's nest because of its elaborate latticed shell of steel and concrete.

The figure is not accurate, Mr. Ding said of The Sunday Times article during a news conference on Monday.

Beijing is building or renovating 31 competition stadiums and 45 training facilities in order to play host to the Olympics, which begin Aug. 8. Construction began in 2003, and thousands of migrant workers from around China have been enlisted to complete the enormous task.

Until Monday, Beijing Olympic organizers said that no major accidents had occurred during Olympic construction. But Mr. Ding noted that city work-safety regulations defined a major accident as one involving three or more deaths.

Except for the two at the National Stadium, Mr. Ding did not specify where the deaths had occurred. He characterized three injuries as minor and gave no details about the fourth, which he deemed serious.

Beijing's total figure of six deaths would rank well below the toll in 2004, when Athens was the host of the Games. At least 14 workers died in Athens as the city raced to finish Olympic construction. By contrast, one worker died in Sydney, host of the 2000 Olympics.

Worker safety is a major issue in China, and construction workers have endured harsh conditions for years. Migrants can work months and then be cheated out of any pay by a corrupt foreman. Olympic organizers have promised to uphold national standards for worker treatment.

At the news conference on Monday, the Beijing vice mayor, Chen Gang, said officials were emphasizing safety at Olympic sites. He said that construction sites were subjected to spot inspections and that evening classes on safety were provided to workers.

Accidents have been put under effective control, Mr. Chen said. Another official, Xu Bo, said workers were receiving free health care at special clinics.

Mr. Chen said all 31 competition sites had been completed except for the National Stadium.