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Local Officials Sacked for Ship Accident
Supervision and discipline authorities in Sichuan Province, southwest China, have fired 18 local officials and public servants found to be responsible for the sinking of a passenger ship in June that killed 130 people.
Eight other officials at various levels also received administrative or other punishments in line with the Communist Party of China (CPC) disciplines.
The action was approved by the provincial CPC committee, the provincial government and the Ministry of Supervision, according to sources at a meeting on the accident.
On June 22, the passenger vessel Rong Jian, which had a maximum holding capacity of 101, was carrying 221 passengers when it snagged a rock and sank while sailing in foggy conditions. A total of 130 people were killed in the accident.
The ship was on a stretch of the Yangtze River near Hejiang County of Luzhou City, Sichuan.
Among the sacked are leading officials of Luzhou's communications and shipping bureaus, the secretary of the CPC's Hejiang county committee, head of Hejiang County, and two township leaders.
Liu Qiang from the local harbor superintendency bureau has been detained by the public security department in connection with the ship accident.
Earlier, four people determined to be directly responsible for the downed ship were arrested by the local police. Included in the group were the ship's owner and its pilot.
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