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Chinese farmer killed in house fire as workers demolish it during compulsory purchase row
Zhang Jimin, 46 from a village in Difang town, in Shandong province, had refused to agree to town government's compulsory purchase order on his property – claiming the offer was too low
Pictures showing the blazing farmhouse were shared on Chinese social media. Photo: SCMP PicturesA Chinese farmer was burnt to death when fire broke out at his home on Monday after locking himself as demolition workers knocked it down, mainland media reported.
Zhang Jimin, 46 from a village in Difang town, near the city of Linyi, in eastern Shandong province, had refused to agree to the town government's compulsory purchase of his property – claiming the offer was too low, Southern Metropolis News reported.
He had locked himself inside his farmhouse before noon, as the group of men began tearing down his farmhouse, when the fire broke out, witnesses told the newspaper.
Photographs taken by witnesses, showing a thick smoke rising above the roof, flames inside the property’s smashed rooms - along with gruesome immages of Zhang’s charred, battered body lying on a plastic sheet on the ground.
Farmer Zhang Jimin was killed on Monday after locking himself in his home as workmen demolished his home in Shandong province. Photo: SCMP Pictures
They were widely distributed on the internet after being posted on mainland social media.
Zhang Dezhi, the victim’s nephew, told the newspaper that his uncle had failed to reach agreement with the government over the compulsory purchase of his land because he believed the level compensation he was being offered was too low.
The victim’s cousin, Zhang Jiyou, said some town and village cadres had repeatedly tried – but failed – to persuade him to accept the offer during the past week.
Zhang Jiyou said a group of men, led by town government employees, had already started tearing down his cousin’s home when he arrived. The bungalow’s courtyard walls had been demolished and the men were throwing his things out from the house, he said.
“When I arrived, Zhang Jimin had locked the door from the inside,” Zhang Jiyou was quoted as saying by the Southern Metropolis News.
“Soon afterwards the house was on fire. There was a gas tank in the house. We don’t know whether he had been forced to set himself on fire or it was the demolition team that started the blaze fire.”
Zhang Jiyou told Thepaper.cn that he had seen the demolition workers throwing gas bottles around the house.
He claimed that Zhang’s wife was brutally beaten while her way home after sending the couple’s two daughters to school on Monday morning.
The county government issued a statement on Monday night, acknowledging the fire and Zhang’s death.
It said authorities were investigating the matter, without mentioning what had caused the fire.
A number of village officials in Shandong have been detained in connection with the death of a local villager.
A photo shows the house where a villiger set himself on fire in Pinyi county, east China's Shandong pronvince on September 14, 2015. [Photo: news.163.com]
A man killed himself by setting himself ablaze earlier this week in protest against the forced demolition of his home in a rural area outside the city of Linyi.
Numerous party and village officials have been detained for culpability in the man's death, as they were in-charge of the village renovation projects.
Forced demolitions have been a continuing problem in China for years, with local officials often using strong-arm tactics to force people from their homes.
Chinese villager Zhang Jimin died when his home was set on fire as he tried to stop a gang of men demolishing it in Shandong province. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Several local officials in eastern China have been detained after a man died in a fire at his village home while defending it from a demolition gang, state media reports.
The case underscores continuing violence in the mainland's frequent land disputes.
Those suspected of culpability in the death of homeowner Zhang Jimin, 46, had been directly responsible for an urban renewal project in Difang township, in the Shandong provincial city of Linyi, the Xinhua news agency and state broadcaster CCTV reported last Friday.
Among those detained were Difang’s Communist Party secretary Wei Yunbo and Guan Yansheng, party secretary of the township’s Donggu community, Xinhua news agency said.
The scene of the fatal fire in Shandong province. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Zhang was burned to death and his house gutted in last week’s incident, which followed a prolonged disagreement over the terms of compensation offered for his home.
The local authority plans to demolish the homes of more than 700 households in the farmer’s village.
Mobile phone footage of the incident circulating widely on mainland social media shows what appears to be a group of men throwing stones and gasoline-filled containers into the house, which quickly begins billowing smoke while flames shoot from windows.
The use of thugs and strong-arm tactics in housing demolitions is relatively common in China, where local governments are heavily reliant on land sales to top up their coffers.
Corrupt officials can pocket generous kickbacks through collusion with real estate developers, giving them even more incentive to force out incalcitrant homeowners.
The total number of people detained was not immediately clear.
An investigation at the city government level was ordered after the video footage and eyewitness reports raised questions about official claims that Zhang had set the fire himself.
Local government officials had denied being at fault over Zhang's death.
They claimed that Zhang had earlier bought nine litres of petrol with the intention of killing himself, The Beijing News reported last week.
