Couple in their 60s burn to death while resisting forced demolition of their house

Houshan’gen Village, Hengxi township, Xianju County,k Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province: The Legal Evening News has reported that a husband and wife in their 60s burned to death in their house after they refused to leave it so a parking lot could be built there.

“On Wednesday March 25, 2015, the village Communist Party Committee sent several people to try to persuade the old couple to leave the house. They just said it would be torn down to build a parking lot. Negotiations on fair compensation hadn’t yet been completed so of course the old people didn’t agree to leave. At approximately 1 a.m. on Sunday, March 29, the old house suddenly caught fire. The conflagration was very intense. Despite firefighters’ best efforts it continued to burn. All observers suspected it was intentionally set. Eyewitnesses saw a luxury car driving toward the village exit at the time the fire started, but didn’t assume anything suspicious at the time. The ground around the house was also unexpectedly on fire, and stones had cracked from the heat. A friend said: ‘Who would be so heartless as to burn an old house with gasoline? The elderly people in the house were engulfed in flames and burned beyond recognition. All people with a conscience don’t want to see this case go unresolved, they want it thoroughly investigated and the perpetrators severely punished. Give the victims justice!'”

The Public Security Bureau is investigating.