Man sentenced in prison for involuntary manslaughter

A 30-year-old man in North China's Hebei province was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison for involuntary manslaughter in the death of two children who were drowned when under his supervision.

He was also ordered to pay a fine of 32,633 yuan ($4,747) to each child's family, according to a paper of sentence from the People's Court of Xingtai county, Xingtai city of Hebei province.

The man, surnamed Yang, a resident of Xingtai county, took two children aged 11 and 12 to a barbecue near a pond in Dataohua village on Aug 10 last year.

The two children went to play in the pool, but Yang was busy livestreaming and interacting with online fans on a short-video platform and did not pay the children adequate attention, according to the paper.

Yang tried to save them when he found the two children drowning but failed.

He then left the scene without telling anyone or reporting the deaths to local police, the paper said.

The children's bodies were found in the pool the next morning.

The case was heard in March but has recently sparked media attention that argued cellphone addiction led to the tragedy.

"Adults should pay enough attention to children when accompanying them and not play too much with their phones, which could cause a tragedy like this," an article by the court in Xingtai county said.

Huang Rui, Wang Yi and Zhao Zengqiang contributed to the story.