Outrage as Chinese street vendors run over and kill son, aged 4, while fleeing officers

A Chinese couple selling fruit on the street accidentally ran over and killed their four-year-old son while trying to avoid city enforcement officers, state media reported today – prompting outrage online.

It is the latest public outcry involving chengguan, or urban management officers, who have gained particular notoriety among the Chinese public for abusing their powers while enforcing city laws.

Street vendors in China often operate without licences, and can be fined for doing so.

When the fruit sellers in Zhejiang province’s Hangzhou city spotted four chengguan patrolling the neighbourhood yesterday they got in their truck to flee, accidentally running over their son, Channel 6 TV quoted eyewitnesses as saying.

A surveillance video aired by the Zhejiang provincial station showed the father, surnamed Liu, getting into the vehicle on the driver’s side while his son played on the ground, ahead of the front wheel on the passenger side.

As the chengguan chased other vendors around the street corner, the father began driving away, crushing his son under the wheel, the video showed.