China's worst subway accident death toll rises to 17

BEIJING (Reuters) - The death toll from a subway tunnel collapse in eastern China has risen to 17, with little hope of finding survivors among four missing, local media reported on Tuesday.

The collapse of a half-built subway tunnel in Hangzhou, capital of China's Zhejiang province, earlier this month swallowed vehicles and a public bus, trapping dozens of people in a deep, 75-metre-long chasm.

The accident, China's deadliest for subway construction, prompted other cities to conduct safety checks on subway projects.

Ten people remained in hospital and local insurance companies had paid 10 million yuan (972,929 pounds) in compensation, a report posted on state-run web portal China.com.cn (www.china.com.cn) said.

Hangzhou mayor Cai Qi said the accident had exposed "serious problems" in the city's subway construction and ordered authorities to step up safety checks.

"Enhance inspections to uncover and deal with latent safety threats, and earnestly carry out supervision," the Hangzhou Daily, a local Communist Party newspaper, quoted Cai as saying.

The incident has been widely denounced in commentaries carried by official media, but no arrests or punishments have been reported.

China's construction industry has been plagued by corruption, poor standards and shoddy materials as the country's booming economy fuelled a rush to expand infrastructure and housing.

The country's top planning agency and finance ministry this week ordered local governments to guard against blind investment and shoddy projects, as the country allocates funds from a 4 trillion yuan stimulus plan to pump-prime the economy amid the global financial crisis.

(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Nick Macfie)