(Photo/cnr.cn)

Zhang Ruiqing, a county coal mining administration head in north China’s Shanxi province has been dismissed for being negligent in his handling of a landslide that left at least four people dead and five others missing on August 11, provincial authorities said.

Other people involved in the incident will also be punished. After the accident, Zhang led government officials to the site twice to investigate the online report, but the company told them no one was buried in the landslide.

The local publicity department then announced that there were no casualties. Police also detained a person accused of "fabricating information online".

The man who was earlier detained for "fabricating information online" on the accident was released after the truth was unmasked.

The head of the coal mine turned himself in to police on August 15.