A series of grisly photos showing a man’s crushed body under a heavy-duty truck were uploaded to the Internet circa Christmas and have been circulating widely. Rumors had it that the incident was not a traffic accident, but a premeditated murder.
An article on forum website Tianya claimed that the victim, a man named Qian Yunhui, was the village chief of Qiaozho village in Leqing, Zhejiang Province. According to the article, Qian had been jailed three times for leading the villagers to petition against land expropriations. The article states that an anonymous eye witness claimed Qian was physically restrained by five men (some say four) and was “thrown under the truck wheel”.
According to today’s East South Express, at a media conference, the local police authorities of Leqing debunked the rumor, claiming that the incident is a plain accident.
The top headline of the newspaper announces that Fujian is going to provide would-be mothers with free preterm tests province-wide.
- East South Express (Chinese): The dead village chief died under truck wheel: on purpose or not?
- Liu Chengpeng’s blog (Chinese): Wheels roll, skulls are crushed
- China Daily: Foul play suspected in death of village head
- ESWN: The “accidental” death of a village mayor (translations of a variety of Chinese sources)
- Village petitioner crushed under truck, netizens suspicious (includes grisly photos)
- Phoenix Net (Chinese): Zhejiang Qingle village petitioner village head dies in traffic accident, rumor says he was held under truck by 5 people
- New York Times: Suspicious Death Ignites Fury in China