Official slow to repay crash compensation

NANNING - The financial bureau of Lingui county in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region said it was trying to retrieve more than 1 million yuan ($158,000) in public money that it had lent to a local official to deal with a drunken driving accident.

Li Fude, former deputy director of the county's housing and urban-rural development bureau, injured a father and son when he was driving drunk in a government car on Oct 5, 2010. The boy suffered a broken leg and the father had severe head injuries and has been in a coma since the accident.

In late January, Li agreed with the victims' relatives that he would pay them 1.46 million yuan, and, in return, they would not press criminal charges. Li gave them about 120,000 yuan as an advance payment.