Wrestling For A Seat In The Metro - Fight Erupts Between Two Couples In China's Wuhan

In any major city grabbing a seat on the metro can be a stressful experience. But in China disputes between passengers may lead to violent clashes, like the one which happened a few days ago in Wuhan city, capital of China's Hubei Province.

According to local media, on April 20 at around noon a middle-aged couple got on a train of Wuhan metro. The wife put a bag on the seat next to hers. Shortly afterwards, an older couple, about 60 years of age, asked the woman to free the seat. However, the woman refused. The old man insisted that she ought to yield her seat to elderly people, but she would not back down. At that moment, the woman's husband intervened and started cursing the old man, who instead of turning away yelled back. In a fit of rage, the younger man pushed the other away, thus giving rise to a fight between the two couples.

According to the account of an eyewitness who filmed the scene with his phone, the middle-aged man went so far as to slap the elder woman in the face. The other passengers, seeing that the altercation had got out of control, intervened, trying to separate the two parties. The fight stopped only after two passengers gave their seats to the elder couple.

Both couples spoke a non-local dialect. During the argument the middle-aged man claimed that he and his wife had come to Wuhan to see a doctor, and they showed a medical certificate to the other passengers as a proof.

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