The fire was set at about 3:00 am in the morning of October 23. The daughter of the deceased Mr Fu Yankong told an Epoch Times reporter, “There was a fire upstairs this morning. The tenant lives downstairs. My father lived on the 2nd floor, and I’m on the 3rd floor. I noticed a fire this morning. Then I heard the sound of an explosion. My mother shouted that there was a fire. I hurried up to the 3rd floor to carry my son down. My father called the police. It was a mess and I didn’t pay attention to my father. I don’t know what happened later. Then my father was burnt to death. In any way, this is caused by the forced eviction.”
In the morning of October 23, about two to three thousand villagers went to the deceased’s home to pay respect to the deceased.
Some of them also hung wreaths outside of the Caozhuang Village Committee to protest.
The local authorities cordoned off the home for three hours, and also blocked any news from reaching the public. Reporters and villagers were not allowed in. Villagers were driven away by the police.
According to sources, in order to force villagers to give in, the forced eviction task force coerced a female tenant to negotiate with her landlord for compensation. But the negotiation went bad and the tenant set the house on fire.
