The death of a Chinese doctor who had warned about the coronavirus outbreak before it was officially recognised has sparked outrage and grief online.
Li Wenliang was earlier summoned by the police for "rumour-mongering" along with eight other whistleblowers when he had warned about a potential "SARS-like" virus spreading in Wuhan.
Many social media users described him as a hero and accused the authorities of trying to shut him down.
The topics "Wuhan government owes Dr. Li Wenliang an apology," and "We want freedom of speech," started to trend on Chinese social media platform Weibo.
The 34-year-old doctor died of the virus on Friday, Wuhan Central Hospital confirmed in a statement after much confusion online.
"Our hospital's ophthalmologist Li Wenliang was unfortunately infected with coronavirus during his work in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic," the hospital said. "He died at 2:58 am on February 7 after attempts to resuscitate were unsuccessful."
The death toll from the virus currently stands at 636, with infections at 31,161.
5 dead, more than 80 missing after Philippine ferry fire
US military says it struck vessel in Caribbean, killing 3
At least 14 killed in explosion at weapons depot in Syria
US hits five Iranian oil tankers after attack on Navy ships
UK gives air traffic provider a week to probe outage that halted flights
Serbia's President Vucic dissolves parliament, calls snap elections
With large crowds attending, Norway lays King Harald to rest
Jordan intercepts 18 Iranian ballistic missiles
