Three officials in Dujiangyan City, one of the worst hit areas in China's May 12 earthquake, were removed from posts for their absence in the front line of the relief work, according to a notice issued by the city's discipline authority on Monday.

Among the punished was deputy head of the city's civil affairs bureau Xiao Rong, who was punished for dereliction in the city's casualty counting work.

More than 32,000 Chinese were confirmed dead, and at least 10,600 people remain buried after the 8-magnitude earthquake struck Wenchuan County in southwest China's Sichuan Province on May 12. Dujiangyan City is southeast of the epicenter.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on May 14 required officials at all levels to properly perform their duties and "stand on the front line" of disaster relief.

Xiao and the two others were the first officials punished for their misconduct in the disaster relief work, after the CCDI's calling.

Xiao was held responsible for miscount of casualty tallying in the city. The two other officials were Li Shu, senior research official in the Dujiangyan Archive Bureau and Liu Dingxiang, secretary of the Tuanjie Village Branch Committee of the CPC.

Both Li and Liu were absent from the disaster work after repeated administration orders to call them back to work, which has made "bad social influence," according to the discipline authority's investigation.

"Instead of tending earthquake victims, Liu stayed managing his own grocery store after the disaster," said the discipline inspection bureau.

The national discipline watchdog has said that the Party will "test" officials through their performance in the on-going earthquake disaster relief work.

"The Party would award and encourage those who devoted themselves in disaster relief and would severely punish those with dereliction of duty or cowardice," said He Guoqiang, secretary of CCDI of the CPC's Central Committee.

(Xinhua News Agency May 19, 2008)