Toll reaches 21 as plant staff admit lie

BEIJING - The toll in a gas leak reached 21 after officials of a Chinese steel plant confessed that they hushed up the death of 14 workers in the incident, authorities said Friday.

Company’s senior executives admitted Thursday that they had concealed the real toll, said an official of Hebei province.

The plant reported Tuesday that 16 workers were poisoned, of whom seven were killed and nine taken for treatment, according to a Xinhua report.

The company failed to report the accident immediately and tried to rescue the workers on its own, the official said.