Student dies after physical quarrel with roommate

Authorities released the primary investigation results for a middle school student's abnormal death in Lingbi, a county of Anhui province.

A student surnamed Wang from the local Yugou middle school died after a physical conflict with his roommate surnamed Xu on April 1, according to a statement released by the local investigation team on Tuesday morning.

Videos that went viral on social media on Saturday showed a man in camouflage in front of the school claiming his kid was beaten to death by a group of students.

The county's police said in a previous statement on Saturday there were no other students who joined Xu in beating Wang and the Tuesday statement confirmed this with more detail.

The provincial department of public security sent experts to the school immediately along with authorities from multiple governmental departments of Suzhou, which governs Lingbi.

The two boys were both 14 years old and eighth grade students.

Once classmates in primary school, the boys were from different classes at middle school but shared the same dormitory.

Late on March 31, Wang invited three friends of neighboring rooms to his dormitory. Wang wanted to borrow toilet paper from his roommate Xu but was refused. Then he searched Xu's shelves and got a kick from the latter, the Tuesday statement read.

As the conflict broke out, witnesses tried to separate the two boys, while the fight stopped only minutes later.

Xu and five other students, including the previous three witnesses, then went to an adjoining room.

Wang, after some rest, followed them at around 23:56 and proposed another fight with Xu, according to the statement.

Xu landed a punch squarely on Wang's chest, dropping the latter fell onto ground where he gradually lost consciousness.

The students tried first-aid methods they found online before the arrival of the dormitory building's administrator, who called an ambulance.

At around 0:10 on April 1, medics arrived. They continued rescue treatment for about half an hour before confirming Xu was dead, with cause of death listed as cardiac concussion.

During the rescue, Xu's teacher arrived at the dormitory and called the police, who then held Xu and the witnesses for investigation.

The statement said forensic examination will continue.

"Only by uncovering the truth can we show respect to the deceased. We should not spread rumors, nor believe them," said Qin Ming, a forensic examiner from the provincial department of public security.

Qin, whose colleagues participated in the examination, made that comment on Weibo on Tuesday morning.

One rumor claimed Wang was the son of a veteran who served in the army for more than 10 years. The statement said the man in camouflage was Wang's uncle without sharing whether he was a soldier or a veteran.

Contact the writer at zhulixin@chinadaily.com.cn