Building workers clash with residents in Dongguan in row over construction project
Two sides hurl rocks and fire high pressure water hoses at each other during violence in Guangdong province in southern China
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 22 January, 2015, 4:09pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 22 January, 2015, 4:29pm
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A building worker threatens residents with a shovel during yesterday's clashes. Photo: China National Radio
About 60 residents clashed with building workers yesterday in Dongguan in southern China in dispute over a construction project.
Photographs posted online show the two sides throwing rocks and firing high pressure hoses at each other.
Residents were angry that a wall by a new residential complex blocks their access to neighbouring areas, China National Radio reported.
They were also protesting because they were promised they could use the facilities in the neighbouring housing complex in Guangdong province, but have been barred from the site, according to a statement from the city government.
Three people were injured in the clashes, the government statement said.
Police were deployed with riot shields to separate the two sides.
China regularly sees violent clashes between building workers and residents amid the rapid economic growth and construction on the mainland.
Eight people were killed in the southwestern province of Yunnan last October in a dispute over a new logistics centre near the provincial capital Kunming.
Six of the building workers were burned alive, according to state media reports.
Villagers had accused the government of seizing their land for the project, the Caixin news service reported.
