Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang underscored the scientific outlook on development and production safety during an inspection tour to northern Shanxi Province on Wednesday and Thursday.

Zhang visited the site of the September 8 landslide in Xiangfen County on Thursday morning, where an unlicensed iron ore tailings pond burst and killed at least 262 people.

"The September 8 landslide was a very serious production safety incident, causing great losses, having a bad impact and leaving a deep lesson," he said.

The vice premier said a thorough investigation into the cause of the incident should be conducted and that those responsible for it should be punished seriously in accordance with law.

A lesson should be drawn from the incident and people should be put first, he stressed, adding that more efforts should be exerted to crack down on unlicensed production and corruption behind production safety incidents.

He also demanded local authorities have a scientific outlook on development.

Production safety should be strengthened through more investment, scientific and technological progress and better management, the vice premier said.

(Xinhua News Agency October 3, 2008)