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The woman killed in the incident in Hunan province. Photo: Sina.com.cn

Chinese woman shot dead as colleagues play with air gun at office

A woman has died after a colleague accidentally shot her while playing with an air gun in the office, according to a newspaper report.

The accident happened last Friday at a local government office in Shaoyang county in Hunan province, The Beijing News said.

Two men were playing with the gun while working at an environmental monitoring station, according to the article.

One man accidentally fired the gun and a pellet went into the side of his colleague’s neck. She died later in hospital.

The dead woman’s brother was quoted as saying she got on well with her colleagues.

“I never heard she had offended anyone before,” he said.

The woman who died was 40 and has a 17-year-old son who is preparing to take China’s national college entrance exam.

The two colleagues have been held by the police who are trying to trace the origin of the gun.

China has strict controls on firearms. Civilian ownership of guns is largely restricted to sporting organisations and wildlife protection groups.

Zhao Chunhua, a woman from Tianjin who ran a shooting arcade in the street, was given a 3½ year suspended prison sentence in January last year for illegally owning guns, the state-run news agency Xinhua reported.

She was initially given a full 3½ year jail term, but the sentence was reduced after a public outcry, with members of the public saying the punishment was excessive.

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