The standoff between authorities and thousands of residents outside a hotel in Shishou has ended, after officials imposed a curfew, reportedly made dozens of arrests and retrieved the body of the young man whose mysterious death had sparked the protest.
A resident living near the hotel said by telephone that calm had been restored in the southern city in Hubei province yesterday.
'We could go out this morning because the curfew was over. Now there are only plain-clothes police outside the hotel,' he said. 'But you will be in trouble if you [gather and] talk near the scene.'
He said he had heard that about 80 people, including the family of the dead man, Tu Yuangao , had been arrested on Saturday and the body had been moved to a funeral home for cremation.
'The internet access was suspended [on Saturday], as well as the power supply and mobile phone signals,' the resident said.
'They also prevented people entering the city by refusing vehicles at the highway toll stations.'
