A strike by miners in China’s coal-rich north over months of unpaid wages and fears that government calls to restructure their state-owned employer would lead to mass layoffs has turned violent according to video footage obtained by reporters.
The footage, obtained yesterday, showed protesters marching through the streets of Shuangyashan in Heilongjiang Province, venting their frustration at Longmay Mining Holding Group, the biggest coal firm in northeast China.
Pictures showed enormous crowds filling the streets.
“I’m on my knees, my family can’t eat,” an elderly woman said to a man who appeared to be a government official.
“Tell me, how can we live,” she shouted, before collapsing and being rushed away by fellow protesters.
In the video footage, dozens of police cars, lights flashing, lined the streets, and protesters complained of violence by authorities as tensions mounted.
“Traffic in the center of Shuangyashan was halted,” a witness told reporters, adding that “some people were hurt.”
Pictures from the scene showed what appeared to be police tussling with protesters, with one woman apparently thrown to the ground.
Striking miners held large banners demanding back pay.
“Their main request is to get the delayed incomes from the past several months,” the witness said.
The miners’ anger spilled into street action after Heilongjiang Governor Lu Hao (陸昊) said that the company owed employees no back pay.
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