Four officials suspended over Hebei flood response
Inquiry also finds dyke breach was result of rain, not upstream reservoir
Four officials accused of mismanaging the response to deadly floods in Hebei province were suspended on Sunday, pending further investigation, state media reported.
The announcement came as the provincial government revised the toll from last week’s floods to at least 130 dead and 110 missing, with more than nine million people affected.
Hebei authorities said a flood in Daxian village, near the city of Xingtai, was caused by torrential rain, not the release of water from swollen upstream reservoirs as earlier claimed. But local media questioned why billions of yuan invested in flood-control infrastructure failed.
Early on Wednesday, a flash flood from the Qili River swept through Daxian, killing at least 17 and leaving one missing, a provincial working group investigating the incident said yesterday. The death toll for Xingtai in total was 34, with another 13 missing.
The four suspended officials were Xingtai Economic Development Zone Communist Party chief Duan Xiaoyong, Dongwang town party chief Zhang Guowei, Shijiazhuang transport bureau chief engineer He Zhankui and Jingxing county deputy chief Jia Yanting.
Duan and Zhang were the direct supervisors of Daxian, while Jingxing was among the province’s worst-hit areas, with 36 dead and another 35 missing.