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China’s mining industry has long been dogged by unsafe practices and deadly accidents. Now in the coal-producing province of Shanxi, a dispute over ownership rights has left five people dead.

The Baijiamao coal mine in Lin Prefecture was jointly owned collectively by all of the Baijiamao villagers. But last year, local authorities sold the mine to a private company. Since then, villagers have been trying to settle the ownership dispute through the legal system. They’ve also been camping outside the mine to protect it.

On October 9th, villagers went to the Shanxi Province Supreme People’s Court, demanding a decision be made on the mine’s ownership rights. But police drove them away.

Three days later, around 100 armed men began attacking villagers camped out on the road. Villagers say the men torched their tents and ran people down with a truck. The brutal attack left five people dead.

“They killed a person, and then ran over him with the truck. Three people died on that day. The other two were sent to hospital, but they couldn’t be revived and passed away.”

Villagers say the attack was orchestrated by two officials. One is Li Baoming, the safety director of the mine. The other is his younger brother, Li Haibing, who’s the deputy director of the local Public Security Bureau.

Journalist Jing Jianfeng also believes that local authorities are behind the attack. Jing had served a one-year sentence after he investigated an unrelated incident of illegal collusion between Chinese authorities and local mine owners.

[Jing Jianfeng, Journalist]:
“Li Haibing, he is the boss of local thugs. I was also a victim of Li. The local thugs are directed by government and Public Security Bureau officials.”

The Shanxi Provincial Disciplinary Committee is now investigating Li Haibing. But Shanxi Province authorities have successfully stopped the mainland Chinese media from reporting on the incident.