Calm restored after driver's death triggers incident

CHENGDU - Calm has been restored in a city in Southwest China's Sichuan province after residents attacked police cars over the death of a truck driver, a local official said on Thursday.

No casualties occurred when police dealt with the incident, Zhang Wenjun, an official of the Luzhou city government, said at a news briefing.

Gan Junyuan, a driver from a village in Luzhou city, Sichuan, felt ill and died on Wednesday evening after he argued and scuffled with traffic police. He had parked his white truck in a banned area along a road.

Gan "suddenly felt uncomfortable" during the scuffle. He shouted that there was medicine in the truck's cab. Police searched for it but failed to find the medicine.

People gathered nearby found the medicine and helped the driver take it. However, his condition worsened and police called an ambulance, Zhang said.

Doctors, who attended the scene, failed to save Gan's life. As a result,some people attacked police cars at the site. Five police cars were set ablaze and two others were burnt completely, said Zhang.

Residents left the scene and the situation calmed down at around 4 am Thursday.

On Thursday morning, a Xinhua reporter at the scene said everything was back to normal although residents were still talking about it.

The local government said a team has been set up to conduct an investigation, promising to announce the results timely and handle the incident in accordance with the law.