I killed a national hero, man reveals

The man who accidentally killed Lei Feng, , China's legendary soldier, has confessed his 'guilt' on the front page of a newspaper on the day the nation mourns its hero.

'I drove the truck that knocked the pole that fell on Lei Feng and killed him,' said Qiao Anshan , a 57-year-old retiree living in Liaoning province.

Corporal Lei died on August 15, 1962, and on March 5 the next year Chairman Mao Zedong called on the nation to learn from the 24-year-old martyr.

Although most people believe he never existed, his icon is still hung in nearly every school and he remains the country's greatest soldier-saint. China's propaganda authorities are now trying to revive the cult with a 'blockbuster' film: The Days after I Left Lei Feng, which every member of the Communist Party's Youth League must see.

'Lei Feng changed my life. Everything I do I always think to myself: 'how would Lei Feng have done this?' ' his killer told the Beijing Youth Daily. Each year Mr Qiao makes a pilgrimage to Lei's tomb in Fushun, Liaoning province, to plant a tree and lay a bunch of flowers.

Qiao recalled it was a Sunday when the pair were cleaning a lorry at Fushun Army base. The vehicle was driven to a hose pipe. Then Lei asked the driver to back up.