CHINA -- A woman has blown herself up in protest over the demolition of her house in southern China, killing two people and injuring 14.
The suicide blast took place Thursday morning near Zhaotong, a small city in China's remote Yunnan province.
The woman had been meeting with a small group of low-level community officials to sign an agreement over her the demolition of her home and the compensation.
This incident is a reminder of the tensions in China over the country's rapid development where home owners are forced to make way for development.
Local governments often demolish houses - or confiscate land - but offer little or no compensation to those affected, while officials resell their land to companies for huge prices.
Home demolitions are a frequent occurrence throughout the country, as urban areas expand and land developers move quickly to snatch land from rural areas. Although all demolitions and new developments are supposed to be subject to government review, and farmers are guaranteed fair compensation for land by law, numerous examples also demonstrate corruption and collusion of local administrators with property developers, sometimes backed by local thugs.
Opposition to relocation and home destruction by residents, who sometimes refuse to leave homes even in the face of physical intimidation.
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