Little boy’s death sparks public concern over ‘human-eating wells’
Print Edition
THE death of a boy who fell into an abandoned well in northern China has sparked public concern across the country.
The boy, Zhao Zicong, was found dead in Hebei province on Thursday night in Zhongmengchang Village of Lixian County, after search and rescue teams had looked for him for more than 100 hours, said Wu Sujie, Lixian’s vice county head.
The 6-year-old fell down the 80-meter-deep dry well on Sunday morning while helping to harvest vegetables with his father, rescuers said.
The accident generated attention from home and abroad, after the boy’s father put out a call for help on the social media platform WeChat.
“May the boy be found and safe,” said a Facebook comment by Stanley Lim from Malaysia as rescue efforts were ongoing.
Because it took so long to find the boy, the public raised questions about the rescue efforts, while others were concerned about the dangers of disused wells in China.
It took more than 500 rescuers and 100 excavators over 100 hours to find the boy’s body, according to the local government, leaving many to wonder why it took so long.
After the boy disappeared, rescuers used life-detecting devices, infrared cameras and mechanic rescue arms to try to find him, but all efforts were in vain, Wu said.
As the 30 centimeter-diameter well was too narrow for an adult to enter, rescuers had to dig a 120-meter diameter, funnel-shaped area to try to find the boy, said Pang Zhi, head of a rescue team at the site.
“On four occasions the ground nearly caved in,” he said.
The rescue was hampered by soft sandy soil, which is prone to collapse, Pang added. Measures were taken to support the shaft during the excavation.
Ma Xiaochun, an associate professor with the faculty of engineering at China University of Geoscience, said that when such accidents happen, rescuers usually contact the victim first, while providing oxygen, lights and food.
“In this case, it was difficult to do so because they were unable to detect the boy,” Ma told Beijing News.
The case left many worried about China’s dry wells, with some online observers using the phrase “human-eating wells” on Weibo, a Twitter-like service.
According to the boy’s grandfather, the well was once used for irrigation but has been out of service for five years, and the well had not been refilled or covered. “There was no warning sign around,” he said.
Wu said that the well was dug in the late 1990s, and that there had initially been a cover, but it had been removed. The county government has launched an investigation into all dry wells in Lixian, Wu added.
Thirty-one people have fallen into dry wells in China this year, 80 percent of them children, according to Beijing News. Forty percent of the victims lost their lives, the newspaper reported.
Northern and eastern regions of China have long experienced water supply issues amid rapid urbanization and growing demand, with underground water dropping to alarming levels in many areas. As a result, many wells have been abandoned as residents have dug deeper wells searching for more underground water.
In Hebei, about 100,000 wells had dried up or had insufficient water as of 2012, according to government figures.
“In China, a lot of rural land has been appropriated for commercial uses, and many farmers have left their wells abandoned,” said Zhang Yong, head of China’s Blue Sky Rescue, a non-governmental rescue organization.
Zhang said it was urgent to take measures to guard such wells. “Abandoned wells should be refilled,” he said. “Fences should be established to prevent accidents.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
