China Scene: North

Man to pay for son's anger that charred family

A Beijing court ordered the only surviving member of a family, charred to death in a fire that was ignited by his son, to pay the relatives of his neighbor, who also died in the blaze, 68,000 yuan ($9,953) as compensation last week.

On March 29, the deceased neighbor had only just walked into the adjacent house to stop the family from fighting, when Tu, a 30-something man, set fire to the house. Tu, his wife and mother, as well as the neighbor, died in the blaze.