Authorities in south China's Guangdong Province said they have sent a work panel to dispel rumors surrounding an incident of unrest that occurred in a township on Friday.

The work panel was dispatched to the township of Xintang, where the unrest broke out late Friday, to quell rumors concerning the incident, Ye Niuping, mayor of the city of Zengcheng, said during a news conference held on Sunday in the provincial capital of Guangzhou. Xintang is under the administrative supervision of Zengcheng.

The unrest was triggered after a pregnant woman named Wang Lianmei fell to the ground during a scuffle with village security personnel, who were asking her to move her stall in front of a supermarket, according to a government statement released at the conference.

Wang and her husband Tang Xucai are from southwest China's Sichuan Province, the statement said.

Township government officials and policemen managed to defuse the incident at first. However, several bystanders attempted to stop the woman's husband from helping her into an ambulance, after which a large number of people began to gather, the statement said.

Several people in the crowd hurled bottles and bricks at government officials and police vehicles. Police arrested 25 people who are believed to have incited the unrest.

No injuries or deaths have been reported.

"A hospital check-up showed that my wife and the baby are both safe and sound," Tang said at the conference.

Rumors quickly began to spread in Xintang after the incident, with some local residents saying that a person was beaten to death at the supermarket.

Xintang is a bustling manufacturing town. A number of garment factories are clustered around the area where the incident occurred.

Go to Forum >>0 Comments