The death of a teenage boy provoked violent protests in a city in northwest China, according to the BBC, which obtained authenticated video.
Protesters are seen throwing things at police and policemen hitting several demonstrators in Pucheng, Shaanxi province, according to social media videos.
According to authorities, the adolescent died in an accident in his school dormitory on January 2.
However, following his death, rumours of a cover-up surfaced on social media.
Protests broke out shortly after and lasted several days before being quelled earlier this week.
Public protests are generally unusual in China, but authorities have been especially sensitive to them since the 2022 White Paper protests over Covid policies, which included rare criticism of the Chinese Communist Party and President Xi Jinping.
The protests in Pucheng have received little coverage from the state media.
Any footage or mention of the demonstrations has been heavily blocked on Chinese social media, as is customary for instances deemed sensitive by authorities.
However, numerous videos have leaked out of China and appeared on X.
The BBC has confirmed that these recordings were shot at the Pucheng Vocational Education Centre and that no older versions were available online prior to the alleged outbreak of protests in recent days.
When contacted by the BBC, a spokesperson from the Pucheng government’s publicity department denied any protests had occurred.
When we called an official who handles media enquiries, there was no answer. Local authorities stated earlier this week that the teenager, Dang, was a third-year student at the Pucheng education institution.
According to their statement, Dang was woken up at night by other students speaking in his hostel.
He had a disagreement and confrontation with a boy, which was resolved by a school authority.
Later that night, another student discovered him dead at the foot of the dormitory block.
The statement described it as “an accident where a student fell from a height at school.”. It added that the police had conducted investigations and an autopsy and “at present exclude it as a criminal case.”.
However, claims have circulated online for days that there was more to the story and that the school and authorities were concealing the truth.
One account claimed, without proof, that Dang committed himself after being bullied by the boy he had previously fought with.
Unverified allegations from his relatives have circulated, stating that the injuries on Dang’s body contradicted the authorities’ account of events and that they were not given enough time to inspect his body.
The charges appeared to enrage many people in Pucheng, resulting in protests involving at least hundreds of individuals.
Bullying has become a particularly sensitive issue in China in recent years, with previous examples of student deaths sparking demonstrations.
Last month, a Chinese court sentenced two teens to long prison terms for murdering a classmate.
There were additional videos put on X on Monday that the BBC confirmed were filmed at the Pucheng Vocational Education Centre, depicting people mourning the teenager’s death.
They left flowers and offerings at the school’s gate and performed a traditional mourning rite by throwing pieces of paper from a school building’s rooftop.
Other videos circulating online appear to show activists, many of whom are young, assaulting a building and struggling with police while yelling, “Give us the truth.”.
Other footage shows demonstrators flinging objects like traffic cones at groups of fleeing police, as well as officers tackling and detaining people while striking them with batons.
Some demonstrators were spotted with blood on their heads and faces.
There is little information on what transpired next, although social media accounts indicate a substantially larger police presence in Pucheng in recent days, with no further reports of demonstrations.
Authorities have also advised the public not to “create, believe in, or spread rumours.”
