Local authorities confirmed Thursday that about 100 workers of the China Railway Tunnel Group smashed houses and beat people on February 13 in the village of Yancun in Funing county of Yunnan Province.

The case aroused public attention when a post published Thursday on the Internet said that a boss of the group who had conflicts with villagers hired workers to attack them.

The online post said villagers fled to the mountains as workers overturned cars and smashed properties.

The villagers were upset with construction vehicles that were caking roads with mud and causing clouds of dusts.

The tunnel group is constructing the railway from Kunming, Yunnan Province to Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Chen Yujiang, a senior official from the publicity department of Funing county, said Thursday that on February 12, two workers riding a motorcycle on a village road splashed mud on some young villagers.

The villagers then asked for 600 yuan ($96) compensation, and beat the two workers.

On February 13, 100 workers from the construction team took revenge on the village smashing 56 houses, according to Chen, adding that an investigation has been carried out.

The online post said "no one has been detained. The local government investigated the case, but did not provide the results to villagers.

The county is now helping the villagers and the construction team negotiate possible compensation.

Global Times