A riot in Pingyao, of north China's Shanxi Province, was caused by a dispute over the amount of compensation paid after the death of a local man, authorities said Saturday.
The riot, which took place at 9:57 a.m. Friday in the Wangjia village, was triggered by the death of 61-year-old Ren Shoufu, said police from the public security bureau of Pingyao.
Ren, a gate keeper for the Longhai agriculture company, was found dead of heart attack in the gate house last Saturday. The company voluntarily spent more than 10,000 yuan (about 1,470 U.S. dollars) for his funeral.
His foster son, Duan Qijun, led more than 150 people wielding wooden rods to block both gates of the company. Duan said more money should be paid for Ren's death.
"They didn't allow us to go in and out," said Li Hongqing, an employee with the company.
Longhai managers believed these people were trying to "make trouble".
The riot ended after two hours when police stepped in and detained 77 people for disrupting social order.
Those 77 people, mostly from other provinces like Hubei and Jilin, allegedly received between 100-200 yuan (14-29 U.S. dollars) from Duan to participate in the riot, police said.
They arrived at Longhai's gates from Taiyuan, capital city of Shanxi, on three buses and were then given wooden rods, police added.
Ren has two sons of his own and neither demanded money from the company, said Ren Zhifeng, an official with the village.
Police are now looking for Duan, who fled the scene when police intervened. Further investigation is under way.
Earlier reports by overseas media citing the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, said the riot started because of alleged vote-buying in a village election. It was also reported that about 50 villagers were injured and around 200 detained.
Both Li Dingwu, Party secretary of Pingyao county and Liu Zhihong, head of the publicity department of Jinzhong city, denied those allegations.
Elections in the Wangjia village started at 9 a.m. Saturday. About half of the 3,017 voters had cast ballots. A Xinhua reporter on the scene described the election as "peaceful" so far.
(Xinhua News Agency December 13, 2008)