A tour group of disabled citizens from eastern Chinese city of Suzhou were beaten by staff at a scenic spot in Shandong Province, according to the Yangtze Evening Post.

One of the injured volunteers with blood on his head. [Photo/Yangtse.com]

A netizen posted a thread on China's microblogging site Sina Weibo on Aug. 25, saying that a tour group she was in quarreled on that day with ticket salespersons at the Laiwu Jiulong Grand Canyon in Shandong Province. The group insisted that they were entitled to a free tour according to the country's laws on protecting disabled citizens, but the employees at the scenic spot refused, claiming that the attractions were "self-funded and do not have government subsidies," the netizen, who was one of the volunteers with the group, told the paper.

The tour group decided to leave, but the employees prevented them from doing so and demanded that they buy tickets. The employees then began beating the volunteers, using sticks, iron shovels and chairs, the anonymous volunteer said.

A total of six people were injured during the tussle, the newspaper said. Mei Zhiyu, a volunteer and the leader of the group, said that he fell down to the ground during the scuffle, leading to injuries on his head.

A disabled tourist surnamed Wu said that the group was scared by the fight and called the police, who arrived after half an hour and let the group leave after taking photos. Some of the mentally challenged children within the tour group were frightened, according to the newspaper.

Mei Zhiyu told the Yangtze Evening Post that the tour was organized by "Volunteer Suzhou," a Suzhou-based not-for-profit group that has carried out such tours for disabled people for five years. They pair each disabled citizen with a volunteer to help them travel. This time there were 15 disabled citizens, 17 volunteers, one group leader and two drivers.

The disadvantaged citizens had planned to travel for eight days. They had enjoyed free entry at other places of interest. The group later reached out to the local government.

The scenic spot made an apology statement to the group later that day, compensating the injured volunteers with 2,000 yuan (about US$300) each, and donated 10,000 yuan to the volunteer group, the newspaper said.

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