Two men jailed over China subway stampede

Two men were jailed on Friday for causing a stampede in a subway car in south China's Guangdong Province in March.

The men surnamed Xu and Yang, both born after the year 1990, were sentenced to seven and six months respectively by a local court for crimes against public security and the crime of harboring a criminal.

At 10:40 a.m. on March 4, Xu sprayed pepper spray carried by Yang onto the ground of a subway car when they were riding the No. 5 line in Guangzhou. Yang later helped Xu flee the scene.

The spray agitated passengers in the car and their subsequent nudging and pushing against one another led to a stampede which injured 13.

Police tracked down Xu and detained him on March 5, while Yang turned himself in to police on the same day.