Mystery of girl, 14, who fell to her death at construction site
Print Edition
A 14-YEAR-OLD girl fell to her death at a construction site in north China’s Hebei Province after her father had gone there to seek unpaid wages.
Police said yesterday they were questioning a number of people in connection with the incident at the Kailongyujing residential complex in Jizhou City.
While her parents were negotiating with the developer, Yuan Meng, a grade-9 student, went with her grandmother, Yue Xiucheng, to the 17th floor of the building, Zhang Rong, the father’s cousin, said.
Local government officials said Yue, 60, had been threatening to commit suicide but police had saved her. The girl had helped police by persuading her grandmother not to jump, they said.
But later Yuan disappeared from view and at around 1pm was seen falling from the 17th floor onto a rescue cushion which had been laid down in advance in case the grandmother had carried out her threat, believed to be in protest over the wages dispute.
Yuan was taken to hospital but died after emergency treatment failed to revive her.
Yuan’s mother, Yuan Li, said: “I don’t know how they went upstairs. When she fell, my husband and I were still arguing with the developer.”
A worker at the site, Ran Jianjun, told the Southern Metropolis Daily that Yuan’s father, Zhang Hao, had organized about 100 fellow villagers to work at Kailongyujing in 2012.
They had finished their work in May last year, but the developer still owed them nearly 900,000 yuan (US$144,800), Ran said.
Yuan Li said her husband had been trying to claim the unpaid salaries many times since. Recently, he was under increased pressure from the workers, who wanted their money before Spring Festival.
On Sunday, Zhang and about 20 villagers visited the local construction authority to lodge a complaint. On Monday, they went to the construction site but only Zhang and his wife were allowed to see representatives of the developer, Jizhou Kailong Real Estate Co Ltd.
The company has expressed its sincere apologies to the family over their loss, local officials said, and the two sides had agreed on an initial plan on how to deal with the aftermath.
Earlier this week, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said investigators from 10 authorities were being sent to six cities and provinces to deal with problems involving unpaid salaries for migrant workers ahead of Spring Festival.
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