One dead, four injured as pupils' parents attack book salesmen at China school

A book salesman died and four colleagues were injured Monday as they were attacked by a group of pupils' parents at a Chinese primary school who had heard rumors and mistaken them for human smugglers.

The incident took place at about 7:20 a.m. at the Chumen Primary School in Yuhuan County in east China's Zhejiang Province, when the five salesmen were distributing pamphlets about a lecture to be given by a local education company, a spokesman with local police said.

Some pupils' parents heard rumors saying that a group of criminals were beguiling their children at the school and attempting to take them away. The parents surrounded the five salesmen and attacked them, the spokesman said.

The five salesmen were later saved by police officers and sent to a local hospital. One of them died at the hospital, and the other four are still being treated, the spokesman said.

Local police are investigating the case, he added.

Source: Xinhua