The former Party secretary of north China's Linfen City in Shanxi Province was stripped of his post as deputy to the National People's Congress, the top legislature, for a mine accident that caused 277 deaths last year, the Shanxi provincial legislature said Friday.

Xia Zhengui, 53, was suspended from office following investigations into a massive landslide triggered by the collapse of an unlicensed iron ore tailing pond on Sept. 8 in Xiangfen County of Linfen City. The landslide buried an outdoor market near a village of more than 1,000 residents, killing 277 people and injuring 33. Four people were never found. Losses were put at 96.19 million yuan

This accident also led to the resignation of Meng Xuenong, governor of Shanxi Province and the dismissal of Zhang Jianmin, vice governor of Shanxi.

Ji Chuntang, former mayor of Shijiazhuang, capital of the northern province of Hebei, was dismissed from the post as deputy to the National People's Congress in May for covering up last year's adulterated milk scandal and failing to take appropriate action.

(Xinhua News Agency June 5, 2009)