20000121

17 executed

in China

BEIJING: Chinese authorities have executed 17 people, including four men who were found guilty of burning a co-worker, his wife and their 8-year-old son and 4-month-old daughter and of stealing 1.7 million yuan ($205,800) in a dozen armed robberies, the local newspaper Yangcheng Evening News reported.

It said another man, Deng Tangguan, was found guilty of knifing to death his ex-wife and her live-in lover.

Seven of those executed belonged to a gang that had mugged people at night on major streets and pedestrian bridges. Two people were killed and two others injured in those robberies, said the report, which was published Wednesday.

The newspapers did not describe the method of execution, but most death sentences are carried out by a single gunshot to the head or chest.ÑAP