Media blackout on baby boy strangled to death by car thief

A media blackout had been imposed on further coverage of the high-profile death of the two-month-old baby boy apparently killed by a car thief who stole the father's SUV in Changchun, Jilin province.

A search for the infant boy, Xu Haobo, and the thief appeared to end in tragedy on Tuesday when a 48-year-old man turned himself in to police and said he had choked the baby to death.

The killing shocked millions, and left many people heartbroken and expressing outrage online and in mainland media.

Thousands of Jilin residents braved the freezing cold on Tuesday night at Changchun's snow-covered Culture Plaza to mourn for Xu.

However, local coverage of the tragic incident is expected to be absent from newspapers and news broadcasts from today, as two reporters from different Changchun media outlets said yesterday that censors had ordered an end to coverage of the death.

"We all feel sad and angry, but we are forced to drop any plans to run more stories on the case," a Changchun-based radio reporter said on condition of anonymity.

The ban came after the victim's family, and an increasing number of internet users, blamed police for failing to find the vehicle in time to save the baby, despite the city being full of video-surveillance cameras intended to monitor the public.