Luzhou middle school student not murdered: police

Local police in Luzhou, Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, announced Friday that a middle school student who died on April 1 was not murdered, following widespread social media discussion of the case during the week.

An investigation found that Zhao Xin, the student, was fatally injured after falling from a height and there were no signs of violent attack, so the possibility of murder can be ruled out, He Shaoming, head of the Luzhou Public Security Bureau and vice mayor of the city, said at a press conference held by Luzhou government on Friday.

Meanwhile, an employee from Luzhou police said that they have detained six people for spreading false information on this incident, and have criticized and educated another seven according to law..

The official Sina Weibo account of Sichuan police said on Friday that the local police had not presented transparent and complete information, which caused the spread of false information, and that the local police should reflect on their action.

Chinese social media went into a bit of frenzy after a video showing the dead body of Zhao lying on the ground went viral. Online posts claimed that Zhao, a Taifu Middle School student, had been killed by five classmates, and that his body was severely bruised, which were proved rumor by local police on Monday.