Beijing denies stadium deaths cover-up report

BEIJING: Beijing Olympic organisers rejected charges on Monday that more than 10 workers had died during a rush to complete the main stadium for the August Games.
    
London's 'Sunday Times' reported that safety standards were jettisoned during work on the 90,000-seater National Stadium, known as the Bird's Nest, and that Chinese officials had organised a cover-up.
    
But Sun Weide, spokesman for the Beijing Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (BOCOG), said the report was false and that safety was paramount at Olympic construction sites.
    
"First of all the report by the 'Sunday Times' is not true," he said. "Secondly, the Beijing municipal government and BOCOG attach great importance to the safety of the Olympic venue construction... and we have taken resolute measures to ensure safety, quality control and timeline."
    
The Sunday Times cited several unnamed witnesses to the deaths and alleged that officials had paid unusually high amounts of compensation to silence families of dead employees.
    
When asked whether any workers had died during construction of the stadium Sun declined to comment.

Officials at the Beijing municipal government, which oversees venue construction, were unavailable for comment on the report.
    
However, Sun denied there was a rush to complete any venues for the Games, which run from August 8-24. Of the 37 arenas being built, 36 have been finished while the last remaining stadium, the Bird's Nest, is scheduled to be completed by April.
    
"Construction of the National Stadium is going according to plan and under proper safety standards," Sun added.