Five officers punished for deaths of 85 in Typhoon Longwang
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-11-13 21:27

China's State Council and Central Military Commission have decided to punish five officers accountable for the deaths of 85 armed police cadets caused by Typhoon Longwang on October 2.

Yu Deshui and Chen Qingyao, the commander and the political commissar of the Fujian provincial unit of the Chinese People's Armed Police, were deposed and given records of serious demerits, said an order issued recently by the State Council and the Central Military Commission.

President Zhou Xiaomeng and political commissar Shi Gongsheng of Fuzhou Armed Police Command School were removed from their posts both in the Communist Party of China and the Armed Police.

Hou Yongjun, director of the cadets brigade, was to be prosecuted by law enforcement organs.

Typhoon Longwang landed in southeastern China on October 2. It caused sudden downpours and a landslide, which destroyed the barracks with cadets inside, killing 85 of them.