17 officials punished over worker-villager clash

KUNMING - One official involved in the worker-villager clash in Kunming city in Southwest China's Yunnan Province has been arrested and another 16 were punished for neglect of duty, local authorities announced on Thursday.

A clash between construction workers and villagers of Fuyou village in Jincheng township in Jinning county of the provincial capital Kunming killed six construction workers, two villagers and injured another 18 people on Oct 14.

According to investigation conducted by Kunming government, villagers have been engaged in disputes with construction workers over compensation for the land being used in the project. On the day of the incident, villagers kidnapped 8 workers, raided the construction site and fought with workers by throwing self-made explosives into the crowd.

Li Jiaming, the head of Fuyou village council has been arrested on Tuesday for taking bribes several times since he took office in April 2010.

Nine officials with Jinning county and Jincheng township were removed from their posts. Another seven officials were suspended.

Further investigation of the incident is still ongoing.