Employees at a Californian radio station that held a "hold your wee for Wii" challenge have been fired after the death of one of the contestants.

As we reported earlier this week, 28-year-old Jennifer Strange died of "water intoxication" while taking part in a contest to see who could drink the most water without going to the toilet. The winner of the competition would win a Wii. However the publicity stunt ended in disaster when Ms Strange was found dead at her home by her mother the following day, having drunk almost two gallons of water during the challenge.

Radio Station KDND, 107.9 FM has now fired five members of the Morning Rave show, on which the competition was broadcast, and sacked a further five people.

Last night a chilling extract from the radio show appeared on the Sacramento Bee website. During the early stages of the contest one host joked about people dying after drinking too much water. One listener called Eva rang in to warn the station that contestants could die due to water intoxication. A host replied: "We're aware of that". Another then said: "They signed releases, so we're not responsible. It's OK".

As the competition came to a close Ms Strange complained her head was hurting. "They keep telling me though that it's the water, that it will tell my head to hurt and then it will make me puke," she said.

There have now been calls for criminal charges to be pressed against competition organizers at the station, although local sheriffs have said there are no grounds for prosecution.