The 11 were charged with negligently causing a serious accident, over landslide on 20 December that killed at least 12
Authorities in China have arrested 11 people in connection with a landslide of construction waste that killed 12 people and left 62 others missing and presumed dead.
Prosecutors in the southern city of Shenzhen said in a statement on Thursday that a dispatcher and supervisor of the landfill, and the chief and deputy manager of a company in charge of the landfill were arrested, along with seven others.
On 20 December, a mountain of construction waste that was piled up against a hill collapsed during heavy rain on to an industrial park. Prosecutors said the 11 people were charged with negligently causing a serious accident.
An official in Shenzhen jumped to his death about a week after the disaster. It was not clear if the man, identified only by his surname, Xu, was under investigation over the landslide. As head of the district urban management bureau, his responsibilities typically would include regulating businesses and construction sites.
Officials have called the landslide a man-made disaster, raising the possibility of harsh penalties for those held responsible.
Despite the threat of prison time over major industrial accidents, a lack of regulatory oversight and cost-cutting by management often lead to deadly disasters in China.