Booted: 'Piggyback' official who tried to save leather shoes

A Chinese official who found a way to keep his leather shoes dry in a flood has been booted from his job. 

Jiangxi vice-director Wang Junhua, was photographed taken a "piggyback" ride on a clerk to cross an ankle-deep flood, with his light brown leather shoes in plain sight, reported the Wall Street Journal.

The photo went viral after being posted on Sina Weibo, China's top micro-blogging site. 

He was sacked after local authorities said the inappropriate act had had a negative social impact and tarnished the image of party officials. 

The incident took place on Saturday during a search for three primary school children who had fallen into a swollen river, reported Xinhua. Jiangxi has been hit by torrential downpours since last week.

"The students are missing, and still he's trying to save his damn shoes? And this kind of scumbag can become a government official?" one user wrote Monday on Sina Weibo, reported The Star. 

One child was rescued, one was found dead and the other remains missing.

Sources: Xinhua, The Star, Wall Street Journal