Eight die in brawl over Yunnan land dispute

Eight people have died in a clash between villagers and armed construction workers in Jinning county, Southwest China's Yunnan Province, over a land dispute, according to a preliminary investigation report published by the local government on Thursday.

The violence broke out on Tuesday between villagers and the employees of the construction company which has been building a logistics center in Fuyou village in Jinning county.

The villagers are unsatisfied with compensation paid to them after their land was expropriated to build the center, thepaper.cn reported.

On the morning before the incident, eight construction workers who were having their breakfast were tied up, beaten and drenched with gasoline by villagers, before being illegally detained by the locals, according to the investigation report.

The investigation report also said that construction workers at the building site armed themselves with "weapons" to defend themselves against the villagers.

That afternoon, "more than 1,000 people" wearing blue work uniforms and armed with iron bars came into Fuyou village, A Shurong, a local, was quoted by the Beijing Times as saying.

Other villagers claimed they were attacked by people in "black uniforms," some of whom were carrying shields bearing police markings, Caixin reported on Wednesday.

The villagers then set some of the detained workers alight, causing severe burns to four, according to the investigation.

In total, six construction workers and two villagers were killed, the local government reported on Wednesday.

Three years ago, land in the village was expropriated for the construction of the logistics center and since then the village has seen several violent confrontations between the villagers and the construction company, the Beijing Times reported on Thursday.