Tourists swept to their deaths in swollen river
By Hu Min |
June 25, 2012, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
TWO tourists, one from Shanghai and the other from east China's Shandong Province, died in rain-triggered mountain torrents in neighboring Zhejiang Province on Saturday.
A group of 10 adventurers who knew each other via the instant message service QQ, arrived in Wencheng County in Wenzhou from Shanghai on Saturday. They encountered torrential rain in a mountain valley near the Dongsandian Reservoir on Saturday afternoon.
The group had divided themselves into two teams. The tragedy happened when the team leader in a group of six was swimming to the other bank of a river but was swept away by swift torrents near a waterfall, a team member surnamed Fan said. Another member jumped into the swollen river to try to rescue him, but was swept away as well.
The group's only cell phone was broken and it was several hours before they could alert police.
The bodies were recovered at 2am yesterday.
A lack of experience and preparation combined with the bad weather was to blame for the incident, Wencheng police said.
Only two members of the six-member team had previous experience, and no one in the group had walked the route before. They had planned their trip through online maps.
All the surviving eight group members were safe and were staying in Wencheng, said a police spokeswoman surnamed Zhou.
Four members of the group were Shanghainese and most of them were over 30 years old, Zhou said. The Shanghainese victim lived in the Pudong New Area.
There have been calls for the government to regulate such activities to ensure that anyone taking part has the necessary training and proper equipment.
Shanghai authorities are researching rules and regulations on outdoor sports clubs and potentially dangerous activities such as rock climbing, bungee jumping and outdoor exploration and they are expected to be announced sometime this year.
A group of 10 adventurers who knew each other via the instant message service QQ, arrived in Wencheng County in Wenzhou from Shanghai on Saturday. They encountered torrential rain in a mountain valley near the Dongsandian Reservoir on Saturday afternoon.
The group had divided themselves into two teams. The tragedy happened when the team leader in a group of six was swimming to the other bank of a river but was swept away by swift torrents near a waterfall, a team member surnamed Fan said. Another member jumped into the swollen river to try to rescue him, but was swept away as well.
The group's only cell phone was broken and it was several hours before they could alert police.
The bodies were recovered at 2am yesterday.
A lack of experience and preparation combined with the bad weather was to blame for the incident, Wencheng police said.
Only two members of the six-member team had previous experience, and no one in the group had walked the route before. They had planned their trip through online maps.
All the surviving eight group members were safe and were staying in Wencheng, said a police spokeswoman surnamed Zhou.
Four members of the group were Shanghainese and most of them were over 30 years old, Zhou said. The Shanghainese victim lived in the Pudong New Area.
There have been calls for the government to regulate such activities to ensure that anyone taking part has the necessary training and proper equipment.
Shanghai authorities are researching rules and regulations on outdoor sports clubs and potentially dangerous activities such as rock climbing, bungee jumping and outdoor exploration and they are expected to be announced sometime this year.
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