Advanced Search

The story appears on

Page A12

July 4, 2017

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

Home » City specials » Hangzhou

Community mourns victims in fire tragedy

By Xu Wenwen | 00:01 UTC+8 July 4, 2017 | Print Edition

A young mother and her three children aged six to 11 died from a household fire set by the family nanny in late June. The father, Lin Shengbin, was in the southern city of Guangzhou on a business trip at the time.

The nanny, a 34-year-old surnamed Mo, was arrested for arson and the theft of family valuables. She confessed to the crime, police said.

The tragedy occurred on the 18th floor of a luxury high-rise called Sapphire Mansion. Police said the mother and her three children were found unconscious in the apartment after firefighters broke in. Despite the efforts of emergency services to revive them, they later died of smoke inhalation

Lin told police the relationship between the family and the nanny was generally good.

She was no ordinary ayi. When living in the southern city of Dongguan, she had earned a living by renting rooms to migrant workers, but she had to flee the city because of unpaid gambling debts.

To feed her gambling addiction, Mo had frequented the casinos in Macau, according to local reports. She was involved in credit disputes of at least 350,000 yuan (US$51,568).

Her Sapphire Mansion employers hired her last year on the recommendation of Shanghai company. Mo claimed to have previously worked for a celebrity family. Most of her resume was false, however, including the fact that she had been fired from her last job.

Ignorant of her past or her true nature, the Sapphire Mansion family, described as “kind-hearted,” paid her 7,500 yuan a month and trusted her enough to allow her to drive their Mercedes Benz to go shopping.

Police said Lin’s wife had loaned the nanny 100,000 yuan as a down payment on a house, but it later came to light that the nanny had blown the money on gambling.

Police said she stole things from the family, including a watch priced at about 300,000 yuan. When the family discovered the theft, they fired the nanny but chose not to call the police. A few days later, the fire was set.

A Shanghai Daily reporter visited the mourning hall set up at Sapphire Mansion. A grandmother of the family there was wailing abuse against the ayi. Lin appeared with red, swollen eyes.

Many people came to Sapphire Mansion to express their condolences. Homages of flowers, candles and cards were placed around the photos of the dead.

Zhu Qingfeng, Lin’s brother-in-law, said fire-fighting devices at the apartment block may have been deficient.

“There was supposed to be a building alarm, but it did not go off,” he said. “When the firemen arrived at the scene, water pressure on the 18th floor wasn’t good. It took two hours for firefighters to put out the fire.”

Neighbors also complained that fire alarms in the luxury building didn’t go off and security guards in the building tampered with records of inspections of fire exit doors after the disaster.

Greentown Property Service Group, which manages the high-rise, hit back at accusations that it was partly to blame for the tragedy. It said water pressure was good and fire alarms were activated. It said sound-proofed apartment may have prevented sleeping residents from hearing the alarms.

The company did admit that some of the fire doors weren’t working well.

“We believe the government will give conduct a professional and clear investigation of all aspects of this tragedy,” the company said in a written statement.

Greentown Property distributed box lunches to all those coming to mourn the victims and to fire inspectors still probing the tragedy. Residents living on higher floors were housed in nearby hotels.

“The building had a fire drill in May, but most residents didn’t respond,” Wu Zhihua, executive vice president of Greentown Property, told The Economic Observer. “I guess if we have another drill this month, they will be pay much more attention.” Lin, the father, wrote on a message to his lost family on Weibo. “Don’t cry, kids. Keep hold of mum’s hands and be good.”

Hangzhou


 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend