Twelve urban management officials in Wuhan, Hubei Province, were run over by a local resident as they attempted to carry out a forced demolition Tuesday.

?Police and urban management officers guard a massive demolition site in Wuhan, Hubei province, on Tuesday, when the local government sent more than 2,000 officers and construction workers to demolish unauthorized construction in Houhu village in the city. It was the largest demolishing action of its kind in the city's history.[China Daily]

The Beijing News reported Wednesday that the incident occurred during a clash between some 2,000 urban management officials, or chengguan, and local residents in Houhu village, Huangpi district.

The report said villager Gong Zelin drove at the chengguan in his Nissan SUV during the clash, running 12 of them over and severely injuring three of them. One suffered serious injuries to his brain and chest.

Hu Pei, deputy head of the district's publicity department, told the Beijing News that the driver was also injured and sent to hospital.

The Wuhan urban management office said villagers were being evicted from homes they had built around a wetland in the district without authorization.

The government had issued a demolition notice, which was ignored by the villagers.

The office said a number of businessmen were behind the illegal construction in the 90,000-square-meter area. Total investment for the construction is reported to have reached 45 million yuan ($6 million).

Hu told the Global Times Wednesday that the case had been sent to police and was under investigation.

Local villagers could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Conflicts between local residents and chengguan are common in China. In August, a 31-year-old chengguan was stabbed to death in an argument with a street vendor in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, the Yangtze Evening Post reported earlier.