China sacks official over dam accident

CHANGSHA - A township official in central China's Hunan province has been removed from his post after the provincial flood control headquarters decided to hold local authorities responsible for a dam breach that occurred on Friday.

The headquarters issued a circular on Wednesday stating that precautionary measures and warnings were not implemented before the collapse of a dam on the Badoucun Reservoir on May 25.

Although no casualties occurred, a resulting flood inundated several houses and farms.

Liu Xiaoyang, the Communist Party of China (CPC) chief of Majitang township, has been removed from his post. Other officials involved are being investigated for their role in the incident, according to the circular.

The provincial flood control authority said Wednesday that the province is dealing with severe flooding following torrential downpours earlier this month.

Most of the province's 13,000-plus reservoirs are nearing 80 to 90 percent of their maximum water storage capacity, the authority said.

The authority has asked governments at multiple levels to organize round-the-clock patrols along river embankments and dams during rainstorms.