THE Party chief of Shanghai’s Huangpu District, his deputy and nine other government officials have been sacked or demoted as a result of the New Year’s Eve tragedy on the Bund that left 36 people dead and 49 injured.

Huangpu’s Party Secretary Zhou Wei and his deputy Peng Song, who is also director of the district, were sacked for dereliction of duty and failing to properly respond to the fatal incident, the city government said yesterday.

They were also punished for violating the country’s frugality rules by attending a lavish banquet at a restaurant close to the site of the tragedy, the city’s commission for discipline inspection said.