A college in Gansu province said on Monday that it would pay the salary of a teacher with ovarian cancer whom it fired for long-term absenteeism - and who subsequently died.

The school, which made the posthumous move in the wake of public anger, also suspended the head of its human resources department, Jiang Xueyun, according to a report by thepaper.cn.

The teacher, Liu Lingli, 32, taught English at Lanzhou Jiaotong University's Bowen College. When she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in July 2014 she applied for a six-month sick leave, the report said.