WENGAN, Guizhou, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Violence that an official said could have involved up to 30,000 people in southwest China has quieted down since Sunday, after crowds angered over a girl's death torched government buildings.

    The incident began when about 300 people, including some who were dissatisfied with a police report on the death of a 17-year-old girl, started to gather about 3:00 p.m. on Saturday at the county government and public security bureau in Weng'an County of Guizhou Province, local government and police sources said. The chaos was quieted Sunday morning.

    On Monday morning, order has restored to the county, in central Guizhou. Restaurants and roadside vendors opened business early as usual to offer breakfast such as rice noodles. Downtown shops which were closed on Sunday were also reopened.

    But traces of the violence were hardly unnoticeable in the county government buildings.

    A total of 20 burned vehicles were scattered in the yard of the Weng'an county government compound. Sections of the building of the county Communist Party committee had been burned down, and a burned staircase was still smoldering. Dozens of government employees were cleaning papers and other debris in the offices, doorways and on the stairs. About 100 armed policemen were patrolling the area.

    "Although the incident has died down, I don't feel absolute safety now," said Lu Xiaoli, a woman who owns a massage parlor near the public security bureau. "I was shocked by what happened. I hope the government can investigate, quell our doubts and return safety to us," she added.

    The deceased girl, Li Shufen, was a student at the No. 3 Middle School in Weng'an. Her body was recovered from a river in the county on June 22.

    A police report said she drowned, but her relatives contended that she was murdered. Vice county head Xiao Song said a preliminary investigation found no connections between children of local officials and the girl's death, as some people had suspected.

    Witnesses told Xinhua the crowd included people carrying banners that read "Return justice to the people."

    On Saturday, the crowd swelled, eventually charging into the police bureau building, witnesses said. Several vehicles and offices were torched. Local county officials said the government staff and police tried to persuade the crowd to leave and showed great restraint.

    Police used tear gas to disperse the crowd. Local residents interviewed by Xinhua reporters said they didn't see or hear the police fire gunshots at the crowd.

    Xiao said the crowd reached as many as 30,000 people at one point. Police sources said people who had no knowledge about the details of the girl's death were incited to mob the buildings.

    The provincial government has set up a work team involving 10 criminal investigators and forensic experts to reinvestigate the death. The girl's hometown was in a rural township and she lived in a rented apartment in the county.

    "She was a quiet and nice child. She seldom hung out or played around. I don't think she killed herself," said her landlord, Liu Jinxue, who helped pull her body from the river.

    Provincial public security chief Cui Yadong, who is also a member of the standing committee of the provincial Communist Party committee, said 14 lawbreakers were detained on Saturday night.

    No current information was available on the number of people in police custody. Sources said some detainees were released after brief inquiries.