Official suspended after outbreak of airport rage

---

A MINING company official in southwest China was suspended yesterday after a video showing him flying into a rage at an airport was posted online.

Yan Linkun also faces punishment as the member of Shizong County's political advisory body in Yunnan's Qujing City.

The deputy chairman of Yunnan Mining Corp smashed two computers at Kunming Changshui International Airport after he and his family were told they couldn't board their flight.

A video of Yan's reaction recorded by surveillance cameras was posted online on Friday.

Over the weekend, the political advisory body said Yan would be severely punished, while the mining company suspended him from his post and told him to apologize.

Yan, his wife and two 10-year-old sons, were due to take an 11:05am flight to Shenzhen on Tuesday, but the family arrived after the boarding gate had closed.

Yan changed their flight to 1pm on Wednesday but, again, the family was late and was told they couldn't board.

Yan and his wife then shouted at staff and Yan used a keyboard to repeatedly smash computers at the gate.

Yan said he had been angry because he was in a hurry to send his sons to school but afterward was full of regret.

"I failed to be a qualified political adviser as well as a good father," he said.

In an apology to Wang Jinsheng, the airport's deputy manager, he said: "My irrational actions and rudeness have caused some losses to the airport as well as bad effects to the public, so I sincerely apologize to the airport and public. I am willing to compensate."

Airport police said they were still investigating to determine whether Yan faced criminal charges.

---