Security Guards Close Metal Gate On Tourists Before Beating Them Over Ticket Dispute

A strange incident happened at Liaoning province’s Dalu (Moose) Island in Donggang City on October 5, as brought to light by a video posted yesterday to Youku (embedded after the jump) titled, “Liaoning Dalu Island scenic area security guards lock door, gang-beat tourists.” As security guards swarm the vacationers, dividing and conquering, someone on the other side of a metal gate yells, “What are you guys doing? Stop fighting!” And then a slightly older (wiser?) security guard goes over to the gate, closes it, and locks it while the beating continues. “That’s enough, stop beating. Why you playin’?” a woman asks from behind the camera. No reply. More “playing” ensues.

Netizens had a bit of fun with this in the comments section: “Well fought,” posts 那死敌愤怒. “Tourists sometimes have very low character.” Another, 时光时光慢些吧丶, says, “The kill zone is too small, firepower too small. Suggest buying an RPG and carrying it around.” The scene reminded some of livestock herded to their slaughter.

But wait. What actually happened? Could the security guards have been justified in their action in this instance?

The spokesperson for Dalu Island tourism, a man surnamed Yu, told Liaoning Evening Paper that the fight began when a group of tourists got caught trying to sneak someone in. Nine of them apparently tried to enter the pier with only eight tickets. (At the 21-second mark of the video, you can see a sign on the gate that reads, “Ticket.”) Unwilling to let anyone get a free pass, some choice words must have been exchanged between the ticket office and the tourists, and things must have gotten physical. Security guards were called in, and no one wanting to lose face (perhaps), a brawl began. The guard who closed the gate was just protecting his men — surely, right?

The reporter contacted the Dandong Dalu Island’s police station, and the cop on duty said the situation has been dealt with “according to relevant procedures,” and that appropriate consequences will be handed down in time. We’re left to wonder if these consequences extend to everyone involved, or if everyone’s actions simply cancel out. Penalties offset, replay the down, that kind of thing.

“Whose security are the security guards maintaining?” asks a Sina Weibo post. The answer, apparently, is one that would make Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish proud: whoever pays them. In this case: Dalu Island ticket bureau.

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