SHIJIAZHUANG, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- Four local officials in north China's Hebei Province were fired on Tuesday following the baby milk powder scandal across the country.

    Zhang Fawang, vice mayor in charge of agricultural production of Hebei provincial capital Shijiazhuang, and Sun Renhu, the city's animal husbandry administration chief, were fired late Tuesday following legal procedures, according to a decision made by the city's legislative body.

    Shijiazhuang Food and Drug Administration Bureau director ZhangYi and the city's Quality and Technical Inspection Bureau chief LiZhiguo were also dismissed from their posts for loose supervision on the milk suppliers.

    Tian Wenhua, the board chairwoman and general manager of Shijiazhuang-based dairy giant Sanlu Group, was also fired from her posts. She was also removed from her post as the secretary of the corporation committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), according to Party authorities of Hebei Province an Shijiazhuang City.

    An estimated 1,253 infants, including two fatally, across the country developed kidney stones after drinking Sanlu's baby formula tainted by melamine, a chemical believed to help increase the protein content in the milk.

    However, the contamination has spread to other dairy companies as the country's top quality watchdog said Tuesday they found the chemical melamine in 69 batches of baby milk powder produced by 22companies nationwide.

    The authorities ordered a halt to the sale of the tainted products which included such well-known brands as Mengniu, Yili and Yashili, among others.

    Gao Qiang, the Communist Party chief of the Ministry of Health, visited baby patients in Hebei on Tuesday. The province alone has reported a total of 861 infants suffering urinary system stones, with 61 of them hospitalized.

    Gao, also head of the emergency team for handling Sanlu tainted milk, ordered timely and effective diagnosis and treatment for infants sickened by the contaminated milk.

    Experts should be organized to go to remote rural areas to check the sick infants and urge them to be sent to hospitals for diagnosis and treatment, he said while visiting sick babies and medical staff in Hebei People's Hospital and Hebei Children's Hospital.

    According to the ministry, the two deaths occurred both in the northwest Gansu Province. They were a five-month-old boy who died on May 1 after his family refused further treatment and an eight-month-old girl whose family also refused an operation and removed her from hospital on July 22 on which day she died. Both of the two were bred with the Sanlu formula and suffered kidney failure.

    Zhang Zhenling, Sanlu's vice president, apologized to the public on Monday.

    "The serious safety accident of the Sanlu formula milk powder for infants has caused severe harm to many sickened babies and their families. We feel really sad about this," he said while reading a letter of apology to reporters.

    Sanlu, which is 43 percent owned by New Zealand dairy company Fonterra, has been ordered to halt production. The Hebei provincial government decided on Tuesday to dispatch four working teams to Sanlu Group for a thorough investigation.

    So far, four milk dealers have been arrested and 22 others detained for questioning by Hebei police.

    Among the arrested were two brothers surnamed Geng in Zhengding County, Hebei. They told police that they had been selling three tons of contaminated milk per day since the end of last year.

    The elder Geng said they added the chemical into the milk to make it appear to contain more protein as they had suffered losses after their milk had been rejected several times by Sanlu Group for failing to meet quality standards.

    新華網石家莊9月16日電 中共河北省委常委擴大會16日研究決定，同意石家莊市委提出的有關建議，在前一階段事實調查認定的基礎上，先期對部分“三鹿奶粉事故”負有領導責任的相關人員作出組織處理。

    初步調查所獲得的證據表明，“三鹿奶粉事故”目前主要發生在奶源生產、收購、銷售環節。為此，中共石家莊市委向河北省委報告，建議經由相關法律程序，免去石家莊市分管農業生產的副市長張發旺的職務，同時免去石家莊市畜牧水產局局長孫任虎的職務。石家莊市人大常委會16日晚召開會議，已經按照有關法律程序，通過了對上述人員的行政免職決定。

    鑒于對奶源質量監督不力，石家莊市食品藥品監督管理局局長、黨組書記張毅，石家莊市質量技術監督局局長、黨組書記李志國16日也被上級主管機關免去了黨內外職務。

    此外，河北省委常委擴大會議還同意石家莊市委的決定，責成中共石家莊市新華區委免去田文華擔任的三鹿集團股份有限責任公司黨委書記的職務。

    據悉，中共石家莊市新華區委已任命趙路新擔任三鹿集團股份有限責任公司黨委書記一職。在16日晚結束的三鹿集團股份有限責任公司董事會議上，按照董事會章程及程序，罷免了田文華董事長一職，解聘其總經理職務，選舉張振嶺擔任董事長并聘其為總經理。