Smoking dispute sparks violence in mountain park

Police are investigating a fight between staff members and a group of tourists at the Jiaozi Mountain scenic zone in Yunnan province that allegedly left one staff member in hospital with multiple injures and a tourist with an eye injury.

The fight broke out when park rangers demanded that the tourists hand over their cigarettes and lighters after they were caught smoking in the scenic area.

One of the tourists involved posted video footage online allegedly showing park rangers throwing stones at the tourists on Tuesday.

The tourist posting the video claimed that the rangers threw stones at him as well as children and seniors after the group of tourists refused to hand over their cigarettes. One tourist was allegedly injured in the eye in the incident, the post said.

According to a reply from the administrative committee of Kunming Changdian Industrial District and Jiaozi Mountain Tourism Zone, the fight started because the tourists refused to hand over a lighter and grabbed the cell phone of a ranger who tried to use it to collect video evidence.

Some 20 tourists then attacked and beat the three park rangers, according to the administration. Two rangers were injured in the fight, one of them diagnosed with liver contusion, a fractured patella and head injuries.