Skippers held over speedboat deaths
By Zha Minjie |
April 8, 2012, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THREE skippers have been detained following a speedboat accident that killed four students on Taihu Lake in east China's Jiangsu Province on last Wednesday, local officials said yesterday.
Among the detained are the speedboat driver, Feng Ke'er, and the captains of the two vessels connected by a cable which the speedboat hit.
Feng was believed to have taken his boat between the cargo ship and tug boat and ran into the line linking them, according to the publicity department of the Suzhou committee of the Communist Party of China.
Three students from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and one from East China University of Political Science and Law, who was the tour guide on the trip, were killed in the accident.
Students' pleas
Three other students onboard were injured and are receiving treatment in Shanghai.
A video clip released by a Jiangsu TV station Friday showed the speedboat driver refusing students' pleas to conduct a search when they noticed that one of their group was missing.
Meanwhile, the maritime authorities said Feng had been "reckless" as the passengers were not wearing life jackets.
"The driver violated regulations when he tried to cross between the two ships where the distance was small," said an official.
In another development, a witness claimed that he saw the speedboat driver drinking before the incident.
At Shanghai universities students held ceremonies to pay their respects to the victims.
All water tourism programs on the lake, China's fifth-largest and a popular destination in Suzhou, have been suspended indefinitely. A further investigation into the accident is under way.
Among the detained are the speedboat driver, Feng Ke'er, and the captains of the two vessels connected by a cable which the speedboat hit.
Feng was believed to have taken his boat between the cargo ship and tug boat and ran into the line linking them, according to the publicity department of the Suzhou committee of the Communist Party of China.
Three students from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and one from East China University of Political Science and Law, who was the tour guide on the trip, were killed in the accident.
Students' pleas
Three other students onboard were injured and are receiving treatment in Shanghai.
A video clip released by a Jiangsu TV station Friday showed the speedboat driver refusing students' pleas to conduct a search when they noticed that one of their group was missing.
Meanwhile, the maritime authorities said Feng had been "reckless" as the passengers were not wearing life jackets.
"The driver violated regulations when he tried to cross between the two ships where the distance was small," said an official.
In another development, a witness claimed that he saw the speedboat driver drinking before the incident.
At Shanghai universities students held ceremonies to pay their respects to the victims.
All water tourism programs on the lake, China's fifth-largest and a popular destination in Suzhou, have been suspended indefinitely. A further investigation into the accident is under way.
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