Firemen toughened up by bosses making them spend the night in graveyard

The 20 firemen were made to go on patrol around the tombstones, locate ‘victims’, carry out running exercises and eventually  sleep in the cemetery

Bizarre: Firemen were made to go on patrol around the tombstones in a cemetery

Fire brigade chiefs in China have come up with a ghoulish way of hardening up their men - by making them spend the night in a graveyard.

The 20 firemen were made to go on patrol around the tombstones, locate ‘victims’, carry out running exercises and eventually to sleep in the cemetery in Pingliang city, in Northwest China’s Gansu province.

And bosses even had senior officers creeping around making spooky noises just to add to the scare factor.

Fireman Sun Hsueh, 28, said: "I don’t believe in ghosts, at least I didn’t think I did.

"But when you are forced to spend the night in a graveyard even the slightest noise gets you thinking.

"I have been a fireman for nearly seven years and have seen some pretty bad and scary things.

"But the cemetery assignment I have to say pushed me to the limits.

"The stillness and quiet anywhere else would be perfect for a nap, but in the cemetery it is something else entirely."

Spooky Scene: Firemen were made to carry out running exercises and eventually sleep in the cemetery

Pal On Lei, 26, said: "I’ve been on ghost trains and the like with my son, and even though he finds them scary, I don’t because I know it’s fake.

"But when we started to hear the wailing sounds, which we later found out were being made from officers, I nearly ran for it."

A fire brigade spokesman explained: "The training was mental quality training which was held to further improve the firemen’s psychological endurance capacity.

"In addition, the training was useful for them to face up to all kinds of unexpected events."