1 dead as village tiff escalates

Source: Xinhua  |   2009-3-26  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

One villager was killed and six were injured yesterday in the latest clash between two feuding villages in Hainan Province.

The fight occurred around 1:30pm between several hundred residents of Baoshang and Gancheng villages in Dongfang City.

A 32-year-old Baoshang resident named Zhang Ji died after being stabbed in the head and arms, said Qin Guangxin, a doctor at the Dongfang City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Three residents of Gancheng and three from Baoshang were injured.

Gancheng has been locked in a land dispute with Baoshang for almost 80 years, and there have been frequent brawls between residents of both villages, each with a population of about 10,000.

The latest clash came two days after Gancheng residents smashed vehicles and set fire to the government building and police station in Gancheng Township, to protest lax security following a middle school brawl.