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A file picture of homes demolished in Datong in northern Shanxi province in China. Photo: Handout

Chinese woman, 82, found dead in rubble after home demolished

Pensioner’s body found two days after her home was destroyed in forced demolition in Jiangxi province

The body of an 82-year-old woman was found dead in the remains of her home two days after the local authorities demolished “illegal buildings” in her village in eastern China.

The remains of Hu Lanxiang were discovered on Friday after her house was pulled down near Yangqiaodian township, the Jiangxi provincial government said in a statement.

Demolition staff cleared the area before taking down the building and the woman’s son and grandson witnessed the operation, according to the statement.

Police are investigating how Hu was able to get back into the buildings that were targeted for demolition.

The incident has triggered an outcry on the internet in China.

“Another case of demolition with blood ... she survived the anti-Japanese war, she survived the Cultural Revolution, but she didn’t survive demolition,” one social media user commented.

The forced demolition of homes to make way for development has become a thorny issue in China.

Beijing has published regulations banning local cadres from conducting “violent” demolitions to force people out of their houses.

In one case, eight district officials in Changsha in Hunan province were sentenced to 10 to 12 months in jail for negligence after woman in her 60s died last year during the demolition of her home, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

A 92-year-old woman lying on her sick bed at home in Xuzhou was buried in rubble last September in a forced demolition in Jiangsu province, the China Youth Daily reported.

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