Two senior Hong Kong television executives have resigned, two months after an apparently false report that former Chinese President Jiang Zemin had died.

Asia Television confirmed the resignations of the two officers , who earlier took responsibility for the report.

ATV reported on the Jiang death for several hours on July 6, before retracting the story and apologizing to the ailing Mr. Jiang and his family. The station did not identify its sources.

Asian media and Western news outlets were awash with reports of the former president's death, after he failed to appear July 1 at ceremonies marking the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.

Chinese censors added to the media frenzy with unsuccessful efforts to silence Internet speculation about Mr. Jiang's condition. Internet users inside the country found the words “Jiang Zemin” and related words blocked for several days on popular microblogging sites.

Reuters news agency later quoted three sources with ties to China's leadership as saying Mr. Jiang had suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized in intensive care at a Beijing military hospital.

There have been no official updates on the 85-year-old former president's condition.