A former Communist Party official was executed in late February for trying to cover up a tin mine accident that killed 81 people in 2001, according to an Associated Press report of a government announcement.

Wan Ruizhong, a former county party secretary in the southern region of Guangxi, was convicted of taking bribes from mine managers to conceal the July 17, 2001, accident. Other officials convicted in the disaster have been sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.