3 county officials held for mudslide tragedy

XIANGFEN, Shanxi: Three officials of Xiangfen county, where a mudslide killed 267 people, have been detained for allegedly abusing their power and dereliction of duty, local authorities said yesterday.

Kang Haiyin, former Party secretary of Xiangfen, Li Xuejun, county magistrate, and Han Baoquan, deputy magistrate, who conducted an on-the-spot investigation after the accident, are suspected of furnishing a false report.

The wall of a huge iron-ore liquid waste dump built on a hill broke on Sept 8, triggering a massive mudslide in the county in Shanxi province.