Hospital staff held on assault charges

Police in Zhouzhi county of Shaanxi province held 12 suspects for illegal detention of a reporter, who was assaulted by staff of a local hospital during an interview on pricey mortuary fees.

Meanwhile, Li Xinfang, president of the Zhouzhi county people's hospital and among the detained suspects, was dismissed from his post on Thursday, the county government said on its website Friday.

The Shaanxi Provincial Price Bureau said the alleged mortuary fee of 150 yuan each day is suspected to be against regulations.

The injured reporter from Shaanxi Broadcasting Corporation, Lan Zhitao, is now in treatment at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiao Tong University. He was preliminarily diagnosed with lumbar fractures and multiple traumas.

The issue was related to a woman who had been preserved in the mortuary for over two years. She died after giving birth to a boy at the hospital in 2015, and her family sued the hospital. This July, a court ordered the hospital to compensate her family with nearly 500,000 yuan ($75,552).

After the family received compensation through forced execution and asked for the woman's body from the hospital, they were told they should pay 102,000 yuan in mortuary fees.

After Lan reported on the case, the hospital claimed Lan failed to follow news ethics and his report was not balanced.

When he went to the hospital on Monday for follow-up reports, he was attacked by more than 10 hospital staff members, and was later shut in the mortuary for around 20 minutes.

Zheng Yumeng contributed to this story