KUNMING - A gang leader and his second-in-command were sentenced to death Thursday in Southwest China for engineering an ambush that used guns and homemade bombs to kill nine people from a rival gang over a mining rights dispute.

Wang Jianfu -- the gang leader -- and Wang Feiyun -- the second-on-command of the gang and a mine electric technician -- were given the death sentence for crimes including murder, illegal possession of firearms, and endangering public security by the intermediate people's court in Honghe prefecture, Yunnan province.

Both men appealed their sentences.

Wang was the contractor of Xiaosongdi Coal Mine in Honghe's Luxi county, but had disputes over exploitation rights of the mine with the owner of a neighboring mine, Zheng Chunyun, who is also a gang leader.

On November 18, 2010, over 100 people headed by Zheng and wielding steel pipes and knives arrived at Xiaosongdi to "settle the dispute," only to find themselves ambushed. Wang and his subordinates had laid homemade bombs and set themselves up in a position to fire on their rivals.

They set off explosives and opened fire, killing nine people and wounding 48 others.

Twenty-four other members of Wang's gang received sentences on Thursday, more than two months after the trial started. Zheng and 40 people of his gang were also tried for various crimes late last year.

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