Three officials from Xiangfen County have been detained for their role in a cover up that tried to downplay a devastating landslide that killed over 200 people.
By staff reporter Qin Xudong
Three county level officials from the north Shanxi Province have been detained for trying to cover up a massive landslide that killed 267 people in the province’s Xiangfen County.
The three officials include Kang Haiyin, former Party secretary of Xiangfen County; Li Xuejun, the county governor; and Han Baoquan, the vice governor. They stand accused of abusing their power and influence to obscure details about the role an illegally operated mine played in the disaster.
Early in the morning on September 8, sludge from an iron ore tailings pond spilled into a village of about 1,000 in Xiangfen County. The local authority first reported casualties of one death and one injury, later to revise that figure to 128 deaths. Xiangfen officials also stated that “intense rain” had caused the landslide, knowing that rainfall on the day of the disaster had been minimal.
China’s top law enforcement body launched an investigation into the incident and reported their findings on September 24. The team said a total of 267 lives had been lost in the landslide, more than twice the amount Xiangfen authorities had claimed. They also determined the incident was caused by the unlicensed Tashan Mine, where iron ore tailings had exceeded the capacity of their holding pond.
In addition to Kang, Li, and Hang, the Xiangfan landslide has brought down the governor of Shanxi Province, Meng Xuenong, and the deputy governor, Zhang Jianmin. Another eight officials connected to this incident were earlier detained.
