Two Chinese officials who let a blind man build a bridge which collapsed during construction have been jailed.

The contractor altered blueprints without getting them checked by a professional, causing the crossing to fall apart, injuring 12 people.

Head of the local authority Huang Wenge and colleague Xia Jianzhong have been sentenced to 18 months and one year respectively for not stopping the project.

The official Xinhua news agency, citing the court ruling, said: "Huang Wenge and Xia Jianzhong, who were in charge of road management and supervision, did not ask the contractors to provide certificates guaranteeing their proficiency.

"When they knew the bridge was being built by a blind contractor, they did not stop it.

"After the blind contractor changed the blueprint, he carried out the work only using a roughly drawn draft of the plan, which caused the bridge to collapse," the report said.

Source: BBC