Parents beat book salesmen, 1 dead

By Xu Xiaomin and Xu Junqian (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-28 09:39

SHANGHAI: More than 150 police officers had to be called in to break up an angry mob of parents who were beating five book salesmen at a school.

The parents were under the mistaken belief the salesmen were trying to smuggle children.

One of the salesmen later died in hospital.

The five were attacked when they gave leaflets to children at Yuhuan Chumen Primary School on Oct 26 in Yuhuan county, Zhejiang province.

"Two of the parents who were involved in the attack have already been arrested by police, while others connected to the violence are still being tracked," said an official surnamed Feng of the county's public security bureau. He said the police are trying to gain more information with the help of a school camera.

The dead man and his four injured colleagues were actual leaflets distributors, police said. They were hired by an educational organization in Ningbo and were about to hold a lecture targeting pupils of primary schools.

The incident started when a pupil shouted "you are a cheater" after getting the leaflets from one of the distributors. When some elderly people nearby heard those words, they thought the kids were being trafficked and the rumor spread quickly.

Local police said they received phone calls that morning reporting people were smuggling kids at the school. When police arrived, they saw several angry parents beating the five salesmen.

The police tried to rescue the five injured, two men and three women, but the rescue was hindered by a mob that was gathering at the school.

The five were finally taken out of the school and sent to a hospital, where one later died.