Six officials in Gansu province have been put on notice and subjected to severe punishment on Friday for negligence in their line of duty. This comes after a mother killed her four children before killing herself. The husband also killed himself later.

The tragic incident occurred on August 26, in the Northwest region of China. Yang Gailan, 28, murdered her three daughters and one son, then drunk pesticide and killed herself.

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Eight days later, depression got the best of her husband who committed suicide by drinking poison.

Authorities in Gansu issued a statement late on Friday in regards to the incident stating that six officials have been punished for the incident.

Three of them--deputy township head Chen Guangjian, and village-level officials Li Jinjun and Wei Gonghui--risk losing their positions.

The remaining three--Vice Head of the Kangle County Ma Yongzhong, and township officials Bai Zhongming and Lyu Qiang--have been strongly criticized over the incident.

The statement said that the officials had failed to put United Nations Development Programme poverty-relief policies into effect and did not attempt to make the poverty level of the family less severe.

The officials were also reprimanded for not consoling the husband after the loss of his family, thus prompting him to commit suicide days later.

Authorities have promised that the officials would face more severe punishments if new incriminating evidence is found against them in the ongoing investigations. 

Tagschina, Poverty, Murder, Suicide, Poverty-relief policies