Chinese authorities sacked a vice governor in north-central Shanxi province, blaming him for the stampede deaths of 105 people at an ill-managed "Foreign Friendship Week" festival last fall, official reports said Thursday.
Provincial Vice Governor Li Zhenhua was fired Wednesday by the Shanxi provincial legislature, said Legal Daily, a national state-run newspaper.Li was accused of making "serious mistakes" in security work in advance of an ambitious trade-promoting "Foreign Friendship Week" last September, it said.
Huge crowds jamming their way into the city's Yingze Park for a nighttime Lantern Festival Sept. 24, sparked a panic and stampede that left 105 people dead and 108 injured.