Anger over crash response in Fuan city sparks riot against police
Fuan residents attack ambulance and police van; latest in series of minor incidents to boil over
Residents of a Fujian province city smashed an ambulance and overturned three police vans after a car crash over the weekend, as yet another relatively minor incidents resulted in public unrest on the mainland.
The riot in Fuan city appears to have started on Saturday night after a man driving without a licence fled police and struck three scooters and another car, injuring five people.
Onlookers, who included friends of relatives of the victims, grew increasingly upset when it took nearly and hour for ambulances and eventually attacked the authorities. Some witnesses also blamed police for causing the crash, according to residents and internet users.
A photo of the scene circulated on Sina Weibo showed scores of people crowded around two white vans overturned in the middle of the street.
A waiter at nearby restaurant, who declined to give his full name, said that police detained around 20 people after the riot and that tensions had died down.
"There are more police patrolling around today, but restaurants and shops are open as normal," he said.