Man wounded during protest dies

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-06-16 23:34

URUMQI - A man who police said was accidentally wounded during a protest against a property development in China's far northwest Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region died Tuesday afternoon, local authorities said.

According to the government of Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital, about 60 downtown residents gathered at a construction site at about 9 am, where they held a protest over a mixed-use 32-story building that they feared would block much of the sun from their apartment building just 10 meters away.

The project is being built by Guanghui Real Estate Ltd. Co., which is the largest developer in Xinjiang.

Three police went to the scene to restore order, but about 40 workers on the site refused to leave and clashed with the officers.

Kudelet Kurban, the deputy head of a local police station, fired two warning shots to disperse the crowd, but to no avail. While he continued to try to handle the crowd, his gun went off accidentally and the shot hit Yao Yonghai, a supervisor with Guanghui company, in the neck.

Yao died in a hospital at 1:20 pm.

Local residents have protested several times over the project. More than 60 residents blocked Beijing Road near the site Monday evening, in an earlier attempt to stop the project. In that case, they dispersed quickly.