China villagers attack 'SARS ward' school

Chinese villagers have smashed up a school south-east of Beijing that they feared was being used to house victims of the deadly SARS virus.

The violence erupted in Chagugang, town of about 30,000 people 60 miles from the capital, police and witnesses said.

Construction crews had installed partitions and beds in the empty school, and Sunday’s protest was sparked after residents heard it was to be used to isolate patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

“We have not had a single case here. Of course people would be worried about infection,” one local resident said.

Referring to building a SARS ward, he said, “They can’t do that. They should also care about our health.”

An official of the Tianjin Public Health Bureau, which is responsible for the town, said it had no plans to put SARS patients in the school.

In Beijing, crews have been building a special 1,000 bed SARS ward in the northern outskirts of the city.

The Chinese capital has reported 1,199 cases of the disease, with another 1,100 people quarantined with possible symptoms.