An east China official has been sacked after a picture of him being given a piggyback across a flooded path during a search for missing children went viral online.

Wang Junhua, a government official in the city of Guixi, southeast China's Jiangxi province, was removed from office on June 22, 2014, after a photo of him being carried on the back of a subordinate to avoid getting wet at a flood-rescue site, where two students went missing last Friday, went viral and sparked outrage online. [Photo / Weibo]

The image showed a man surnamed Wang, a vice director of a government office in Guixi, Jiangxi Province, being carried on another man’s back through ankle-deep water in Lantian Village.

The caption said the man doing the carrying was a low level clerk surnamed Ding.

The incident took place on Saturday during a search for village children who had fallen into a swollen river.

The inappropriate act had a negative social impact and tarnished the image of party officials, local authorities said.

?