Six people deemed responsible for a deadly bridge collapse in July in southwest China's Sichuan Province were sentenced by a local court to jail terms from two and a half to 14 years on Tuesday.

Zhang Pengjv, former director of the urban construction office of Qinglian Township of Jiangyou City, was sentenced to 14 years for malpractice and bribery concerning the Panjiang Bridge maintenance project, said the Jiangyou Municipal People's Court.

Zhang failed to fulfill his duties of supervision on construction quality during the project, which was started last June by an unqualified construction contractor.

Panjiang Bridge's collapse on July 9 sent six vehicles plunging into the river below, killing five people and leaving seven others missing.

Zhou Xing and Liu Guoxue, former heads of traffic management authorities in Mianyang, the city overseeing Jiangyou, were also each sentenced to four years in prison on crimes of power abuse and dereliction of duty linked to the tragedy.

Three people with the project contractors also received sentences from two and a half to seven years in prison on charges of offering bribes.

The Miangyang city government invested more than five million yuan (823,500 U.S. dollars) in repairing the bridge, but the structure collapsed during a flood only five days after the project was finished.

An investigation has indicated that multiple irregularities in the bridge repair project, such as illegal subcontracting, unlicensed operations, slack supervision and improper inspection, had led to shoddy construction that did not strictly follow the initial design.