A reporter's blog, which caught the attention of Premier Wen Jiabao last month, helped uncover the truth about a burst mine dam that killed 45 people on Aug 1 in Loufan county, Shanxi province.

At the time, local authorities said only 11 people had died, and the accident was described as a natural disaster.

At the end of August, Sun Chunlong and Wang Xiao, two reporters with the Oriental Outlook magazine, published an article stating that the death toll was at least 41, and not 11.