Teenage tour group accused of robbing Beijing store

A tour group from South Korea that caused an incident at a chain store because of a misunderstanding regarding payment, have reached an understanding, police in Beijing said on Saturday.

Media had reported that on Thursday about 30 high school students from the tour group broke into the store in Zuojiazhuang Nanxiejie in Chaoyang district and stole goods.

Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau said on Saturday on its micro blog that the incident was a misunderstanding between the tour group, consisting of high school students aged 13 to 15, and the cashier.

Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau wrote that the tour guide was supposed to handle the payment of any shopping done by the group, but the guide did not explain this properly to the cashier. The high school students also had a break down in communication with the cashier because of the language barrier.

The cashier reported the case to Xinyuanli police station.

With police mediation, the two parties reached an understanding and the group paid for the goods they chose in the store. The group also apologized to the cashier.

According to a report in the Beijing Times, the incident happened at 8 pm on Thursday and the high school students took goods worth 1,740 yuan ($280).

A leader of the tour group paid the money to the store plus compensation to the female cashier surnamed Huang.

On Sunday, a female employee of the chain store said business at the store was back to normal after the incident, but Huang was still resting at home.

She said business had been slightly disrupted.

jinhaixing@chinadaily.com.cn