Authorities in the southwest China May 12 quake zone are seeking ways to improve the mental health of their staff after a 40-year-old senior official of Beichuan County, one of the worst-hit areas, committed suicide.

Dong Yufei, the county agriculture commission head and disaster relief office director, hanged himself in a temporary office on Oct. 3.

Dong, who lost his 12-year-old son and other relatives in the quake, left a letter that read: “I feel too much pressure from life and work everyday. I cannot hold on any further. And I just want a good rest.”

From Shanghai Daily:

A Sichuan agriculture official who was promoted for his outstanding work after the May earthquake has taken his own life.

Dong Yufei, 40, who was promoted to director of Agriculture Office of Beichuan County, one of the areas worst-hit by the earthquake in Sichuan Province, committed suicide on October 3, the China News Service reported today.

Dong, who had not taken a day off work since the disaster, lost his only child and several other relatives in the quake that killed nearly 70,000 people nationwide.

South China Morning Post also reports that there has been much debate about “how the authorities should help grass-roots officials in the quake zone”.

© Priscilla Jiao for China Digital Times (CDT), 2008. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: earthquake, officials' mental health, Sichuan, suicide
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