Thugs beat up villagers

By Li Xinran  |   2008-11-4  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

VILLAGERS living beside a Beijing-Shanghai High Speed Railway work station in northern China were attacked by hundreds of uniformed thugs on October 19 over a conflict about land, according to a report by Eastday.com.

Nineteen villagers in Huoqiying Village of Langfang City, Hebei Province, were sent to hospital with broken bones or head injuries, the report said.

Police held dozens of the attackers, but it was unclear how many were in custody, the report said. The attack was over a land requisition conflict between villagers and the railway builder, China Railway 17th Bureau Group, the report said.

Injured villagers said the group paid for their medical treatment as it was in charge of the railway section passing through the village.

However, the report said the thugs were spotted wearing the group's uniform when they carried out the attack.

The men wore blue uniforms with yellow helmets and attacked villagers with iron bars after jumping off trucks about 10am on October 19, according to the report.

Each truck carried about 60 or 70 uniformed men and there were three or four trucks, the report cited villagers as saying.

The report said the men waved iron bars and shouted, "Beat them. Two-hundred-thousand yuan (US$29,254) for a dead one!" Most villagers were scared and fled. Many who didn't get away in time were now in intensive care, Eastday.com said.

Building of the planned 1,318-kilometer express railway started on April 18.