Beijing [China], January 12 : Violent protests have erupted in China's Shaanxi province following the death of a teenage boy, with accusations of a cover-up by authorities, CNN reported on Saturday.
According to the videos verified by CNN from the province, protesters clashed with riot police outside the Pucheng Vocational Technical School, with some protesters seen throwing batons and objects at police, while others broke a glass door with a fire extinguisher.
In response, law enforcement officers were seen aggressively confronting the protesters, with some being beaten and thrown to the ground.
According to CNN, the protests were triggered by the death of a third-year student, surnamed Dang, on January 2. While local authorities in Pucheng have claimed that Dang's death was an accident, social media posts have raised suspicions of a cover-up.
In a statement released by state media, authorities said Dang had a physical and verbal altercation with a first-year student named Guo, which was resolved by a school official. Later that night, another student in Dang's dormitory found a wooden stool under the window and discovered Dang had fallen from the window to the ground below, as reported by CNN.
"The sliding window was open, and the metal mesh screen had been removed. Dang had already fallen from the window to the ground below," the statement said as quoted by CNN.
However, Human Rights In China, a US-based activist group, reported "suspicious circumstances" surrounding Dang's death, citing witness accounts of signs of a struggle in his dormitory and claims that he may have been pushed from the roof. The protests, which began on Monday, may have continued throughout the week, but it remains unclear, CNN reported.
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