"Church leader’s wife dead after buried alive during church demolition"

chinaaid.org

"Two members of a church demolition team in China’s central Henan province buried a house church leader and his wife alive on Thursday when they tried to prevent the destruction of their church. Though the church leader managed to escape, the wife had suffocated to death by the time she was freed.

On April 14, a government-backed company dispatched personnel to bulldoze Beitou Church in Zhumadian, Henan province, after a local developer wished to take control of the church’s valuable property. Li Jiangong, the person in charge of the church, and his wife, Ding Cuimei, stepped in front of the machinery in an attempt to stop the demolition.

'Bury them alive for me,' a member of the demolition team said. 'I will be responsible for their lives.'

Subsequently, a bulldozer shoved Li and Ding into a pit and covered their bodies with soil. Crying for help, Li was able to dig his way free, but Ding suffocated before she could be rescued."