Work resumes at Guangdong factory

(Xinhua/China Daily)
Updated: 2009-07-08 13:31

This photo taken on July 7, 2009 shows Uygur women work at a production line at the Xuri Toy Factory in Shaoguan, south China's Guangdong province, where a brawl between hundreds of people from Han and Uygur ethnic groups led to two deaths early June 26. [Xinhua]

SHAOGUAN, Guangdong: Work has resumed at the toy factory where a deadly brawl is thought to have sparked a chain of events that led to the Xinjiang riots.

Workers at the plant said they did not expect the violent dispute at the factory between Han and Uygur ethnic groups to trigger such bloodshed.

"The local Han people's initial actions were meant to express their dissatisfaction. But the issue has escalated unexpectedly," said a man at the Xuri Toy Factory in Shaoguan, Guangdong province, who witnessed the brawl between hundreds of people from the two groups early June 26. The fighting left two dead and 118 injured.

The violence erupted after a disgruntled former factory worker allegedly made a false post online claiming that "six Xinjiang boys had raped two innocent girls" at the factory.

The rumor was reportedly first posted on sg169.com, a major website in Shaoguan, and then re-posted on many other websites, sparking indignation that led to the brawl.

Police later said no rape cases had been reported.

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