Cop Named "Martyr" After Dying of Alcohol

BEIJING: Though he did not die giving a hot chase to getaway robbers or stopping lawbreakers, yet a Chinese traffic police officer was named a 'martyr' after dying due to heavy drinking at a banquet.

Chen Lusheng, a police sergeant in Shenzhen traffic police in Guangdong Province in southern China was deemed to have died a martyr "in the line of duty" after he was made to attend a banquet by senior party officials for his ability to hold his liquor, the 'China Daily' reported.

Chen became the target of his hosts who repeatedly asked him to "genbei" or "bottoms up" as toast after toast were raised, the report said.

The officer was off-duty when he was invited to a drink- binge. Chen vomited and passed out on a couch and suffocated. He later died in hospital.

His death touched panic among his party official hosts who decided to make him a martyr, in an apparent attempt to meet his family's demand for more compensation.

The daily said after being pressurized by his family the police designated Chen a martyr, so that his family was illegible for a compensation of upto 650,000 yuan (USD 95,000) in compensation, almost double the amount he would have got on death as a working sergeant.

Fart Sparks Gas Scare

SYDNEY: A flatulent pig sparked a gas emergency in southern Australia when a farmer mistook its odours for a leaking pipe, officials said

Fifteen firefighters and two trucks were called to a property at Axedale in central Victoria state after reports of a gas leak, the Country Fire Service said.

"When we got there, as we drove up the driveway, there was this huge sow, about a 120-odd kilo (265-pound) sow, and it was very obvious where the gas was coming from," said fire captain Peter Harkins.

"We could not only smell it, but we heard it and it was quite funny."

Harkins said the pig's owner was "a little bit embarrassed to say the least," and it took fire crews a little while to compose themselves.

"It was fairly obvious what it was. I think we dealt with it fairly professionally and had a bit of a giggle when we got back to the station," he told public broadcaster ABC.