Probe launched into rail clash

The authorities are investigating an incident in which more than 100 rail workers carrying iron bars beat up local farmers who were obstructing work on a high-speed train link in a dispute over land compensation.

Workers from 17th Bureau Group, a unit of State-owned China Railway Construction Corp, clashed with farmers last month on the outskirts of Beijing near a construction site for the $11 billion high-speed railway from Beijing to Shanghai, local media reported.

Trucks "crammed" with people carrying iron bars drove out from the railway construction site to two villages near Langfang, Hebei province, where 19 residents, aged between 16 and 70, were injured in the clashes, Beijing Times reported yesterday. An official with the 17th Bureau confirmed the clash. The company has sent a team to investigate, the report said.