BEIJING - Authorities detained hundreds of people suspected of setting fire to police and government buildings in southwest China in protests over a teenage student's death, a human rights organization said Monday.

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The unrest in Weng'an, a county in Guizhou province, on Saturday was sparked by the death of a 16-year-old student who was reportedly raped and murdered, the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said.

Citing the girl's relatives, the rights center said she disappeared after being called away by three young men, two of whom were related to officials in the county's public security bureau.

The men were interrogated for a day and then released, the organization said.

By midday Monday, police and armed police had detained 300 protesters who allegedly took part in the violence, the rights center said. Some were taken to detention centers, it said.

Liu Zhongmin, a teacher at the No. 3 Middle School in Weng'an County, where the girl studied, said an initial investigation conducted by the county's medical expert determined that the girl had drowned.

Further investigations by higher level medical experts and authorities have not concluded, but residents fear the same results will be reached, Liu said.

"The girl's teacher is now explaining the whole situation to her fellow students, trying to keep them calm," he said.

In the wake of the violence, local television stations broadcast notices asking "suspected criminals" to turn themselves in, residents said.

Telephones were not answered at the Weng'an public security bureau and county government office. A male employee at Qiannan prefecture's public security bureau, which oversees Weng'an, said the investigation into the student's death was still under way. Like many Chinese officials, he refused to give his name or position.

Violent protests have broken out across the country in recent years as citizens vent anger over official corruption, land confiscation and a growing gap between the rich and poor.

They have been a thorn in the side of the Communist leadership, which has made building what it calls a "harmonious society" a priority, and is especially embarrassing with the Aug. 8 Beijing Olympics only weeks away.

A report in the Guizhou Daily said Monday a few "unlawful" elements incited others to "smash and burn" government offices and set fire to some cars.

The official Xinhua News Agency carried a short story about the violence, blaming it on unhappiness over the official ruling over the girl's death.

The report did not provide details about the official finding or the cause of death, but said order had been restored.