Jul 25, 2016 06:18 PM

Hebei Suspends Four Officials After Deadly Floods

By staff reporters Kong Xiaoqi, Zhang Jiale, Zhou Qijun, Shen Fan, Zhang Jin, Sheng Menglu, and intern reporters Sun Liangzi and Gao Jingyu

A tilted power line and a damaged home in the city of Xintai, in the northern province of Hebei, where floods killed 34

(Beijing) – Provincial authorities in Hebei said four local officials were suspended over alleged negligence in their response to the floods over the past week that killed 130 people and left 110 others unaccounted for.

The Hebei government said on July 22 in a statement that it had suspended the head of the economic zone in Xingtai – one of the worst affected cities where 34 people died and another 13 were considered missing as of July 21, after the city received over 400 millimeters of rain in four days. The party secretary of the township of Dongwang which administers Daxian Village, where nine residents were killed or went missing in a flash flood caused by a breach on a riverbank, was also suspended for "being incapable to carry out duties," the announcement said.