Ten officials held responsible for last year's flooding accident in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province that killed 105 students have either been given prison sentences or administrative demerits, yesterday's Workers Daily reported.

A flood inundated a low-lying primary school in Shalan Township, Ning'an City in Heilongjiang Province on June 10 last year. A total of 352 students and 31 teachers were at school when the flood struck. More than 200 houses in the township were affected by the flood, of which 55 collapsed.

Zhu Nazheng, secretary of the Ning'an Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and Ning'an Vice Mayor Dong Yiwan have been given administrative demerits for dereliction of duty. Huang Mingjun, secretary of the Shalan Township Committee of the CPC, and Li Zuoyu, director of the Shalan Police Station, are on probation within the party for dereliction of duty. Li Cunze, head of the Ning'an Water Affairs Bureau, has been sentenced to one year in prison with one year's reprieve for abuse of power. Li Dedong, the former vice secretary of the Shalan Township Committee of the CPC, Liu Liyun, principal of the Shalan Primary School, and other officials concerned have either been sacked or sentenced to imprisonment.

The sentencing was made following more than half a year of investigation.

(Shenzhen Daily March 16, 2006)