Hundreds of angry protesters ran riot at Songgang People's Hospital in the Bao'an District of Shenzhen, in south China's Guangdong Province, on Monday evening, four days after a 9-year-old boy died there.

The Southern Metropolis Daily reported yesterday that the protesters, who all claimed to be from the same town as the dead boy, blamed his death on the negligence of hospital staff and demanded that hospital authorities give them a satisfactory explanation. The newspaper didn't say where the boy was from.

On Monday afternoon more than 500 protesters from Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Dongguan and other parts of the province converged on the hospital.

The boy's mother, surnamed Chen, said that at least 1,000 people were scheduled to come and lay siege on the hospital. Vehicles owned by protesters from Guangzhou and Dongguan had reportedly jammed the hospital's entrance.

According to a hospital statement submitted to the district health authorities protesters had attacked at least five surgeons. Some other doctors had been forced to stay at home. The pediatric department had almost ceased to function.

The hospital deployed more than 100 security guards on each floor to stand guard against the demonstrators, who carried banners reading "Return my son to me."

Similar banners were also hung on the hospital's gate, along corridors and near elevators.

Lin Xinhao, the boy who died, was sent to the pediatric department at 2 PM on Thursday when he complained of stomach pain.

The newspaper reported that the surgeon on duty had diagnosed the boy with a respiratory tract infection. After a skin test the surgeon gave him penicillin.

Four hours later Lin was confirmed dead. Lin's parents claimed that no skin test was conducted on the boy.

"I told doctors and nurses that something went wrong with my son one hour before he died, but they ignored me and arrived too late," the dead boy's mother said.

Chen refused to move her son's body until Saturday afternoon, when she received 100,000 yuan (US$13,158) from the Songgang Subdistrict Government Office.

Officials at the hospital refused interviews. The district health authorities said the protest had seriously affected other patients.

(Shenzhen Daily July 25, 2007)