Officials, instructors punished over military training class brawl

A photo shows panicked students involved in a brawl during a military training class in central China's Hunan province. [Photo: Screen shot from Sina Weibo]

The Ministry of Publicity in Longshan County, Hunan Province, announced that trainers and officials involved in the recent brawl between students and instructors during a military training course have been punished.

A number of officials responsible have been punished, including two heads of the local military department, who have been dismissed from their posts.

All trainers have been withdrawn and disciplined; those involved in the incident have either been suspended or had their certifications as a military training instructor revoked. One teacher involved in the incident has also been suspended from work.

According to the publicity ministry, the brawl, which took place last Sunday afternoon, happened when a young trainee tried the military instructor where a passing train came from. When she was ignored, the trainee grabbed a handful of sand, approached the instructor from behind and stuffed the sand down the instructor's shirt. As punishment, the instructor took a stick and smacked the trainee's hand.

The girl's class teacher, who saw the incident, disagreed with the method discipline and reportedly ordered the boys attending the same training session to attack the instructor. The boys wrestled the instructor to the ground, but were soon stopped by another instructor.

Later in the evening, during a second training session, instructors reportedly started putting the class through an overly-vigorous physical regimen. The teacher on-hand, who was present at the last training session, thought this was in retaliation for his commanding the students to attack the military instructor and tried to intervene. The teacher and one of the trainers eventually started physically fighting, which caused students and other instructors to jump into the altercation, creating a massive brawl.

Forty students were injured in the fight, along with a trainer and a teacher. Twenty-two people involved in the brawl are currently being treated for injuries at a local hospital.