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.

    新华网石家庄9月16日电 中共河北省委常委扩大会16日研究决定，同意石家庄市委提出的有关建议，在前一阶段事实调查认定的基础上，先期对部分“三鹿奶粉事故”负有领导责任的相关人员作出组织处理。

    初步调查所获得的证据表明，“三鹿奶粉事故”目前主要发生在奶源生产、收购、销售环节。为此，中共石家庄市委向河北省委报告，建议经由相关法律程序，免去石家庄市分管农业生产的副市长张发旺的职务，同时免去石家庄市畜牧水产局局长孙任虎的职务。石家庄市人大常委会16日晚召开会议，已经按照有关法律程序，通过了对上述人员的行政免职决定。

    鉴于对奶源质量监督不力，石家庄市食品药品监督管理局局长、党组书记张毅，石家庄市质量技术监督局局长、党组书记李志国16日也被上级主管机关免去了党内外职务。

    此外，河北省委常委扩大会议还同意石家庄市委的决定，责成中共石家庄市新华区委免去田文华担任的三鹿集团股份有限责任公司党委书记的职务。

    据悉，中共石家庄市新华区委已任命赵路新担任三鹿集团股份有限责任公司党委书记一职。在16日晚结束的三鹿集团股份有限责任公司董事会议上，按照董事会章程及程序，罢免了田文华董事长一职，解聘其总经理职务，选举张振岭担任董事长并聘其为总经理。