China: where stopping hijackers gets you paid

The Chinese airline staff who apparently beat to death two suspected hijackers in China's Xinjiang province have been handsomely rewarded for their efforts, according to China's Xinhua news wire.

Staff who overwhelmed the 6 Uighur thought to be hijacking the plane (with a metal crutch) were rewarded by local government and Hainan Airlines (HNA), the parent company of the airline on which the incident occurred, in a ceremony on Monday.

From Xinhua:

HNA awarded two security guards and the plane's chief attendant 1 million yuan (159,000 U.S. dollars) each in cash, an apartment worth 3 million yuan and a sedan.The rest of the crew each received 500,000 yuan, a 2-million-yuan apartment and asedan.

This money comes in addition to other rewards already given out by local government. In total, some of the crew seem to have received rewards of over a million dollars, if reports are to be believed. The 22 passengers involved will get free lifetime passes from the airline.

However, the case is still controversial. The hijackers were reportedly part of a separatist Uighur movement, but Uighur leaders have argued that they were simply attacked after a dispute over seats with majority ethnic Han Chinese passengers.

More from our partners at Business Insider:

Business Insider: Desperate Europeans Are Entering Sham Marriages To Get Brazilian Visas

Business Insider: The Woman Thought To Be Kim Jong Un's New Wife Is Famous For Singing A Song Called 'Excellent Horse-Like Lady'

Business Insider: Goldman Sachs' Dazzling Presentation On The London Olympics

Business Insider: Chinese Firms Made Two Moves This Week That Raised US Security Concerns

Business Insider: A German University Is Suing A Student For Graduating Too Quickly