Former Official Kills Himself After Deadly Landslide In China

A former official in charge of regulating a massive waste
dump that collapsed in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen has killed
himself, local police said Monday.

The former director of the Urban District Administrative
Enforcement Bureau in the city’s Guangming district where the landslide
disaster took place December 20, jumped off a residential building Sunday
night, the Shenzhen Nanshan District public security bureau said on its
official social media account.

Police and state media have not said whether Xu had been
directly responsible for authorizing the dump and no individuals or
organizations have been blamed.

A search of the Shenzhen Guangming District Government
website suggested he was still director in July 2015 and local media reported
that his bureau had approved the waste dump.

Authorities have said that the mountain of construction
debris, which swallowed 33 buildings when it collapsed, was a result of safety
violations — not a natural disaster.

“Those responsible for the incident will be seriously
punished in accordance with laws and regulations,” a state investigation
team said Friday.

As of Sunday, rescue crews had pulled out four bodies after
the landslide. More than 70 people are still missing.