Woman in blaze tragedy vows to carry on
Source: Xinhua/Shanghai Daily |
January 7, 2013, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A WOMAN whose unlicensed orphanage in central China's Henan Province caught fire last Friday, claiming seven lives, said yesterday that she had a "clear conscience" and would not abandon her work.
"Dozens of children would have died if I had not taken them in," Yuan Lihai, 48, said at a hospital ward in Lankao County. "I have a clear conscience."
Yuan, who has a history of high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease, complained of breathing difficulties on Saturday night and was taken to hospital.
Local authorities had been holding her in isolation in a hotel room for questioning. Even her family was unable to find her.
Yuan's son Du Peng said he received a phone call at 10pm and he was given the address of the hotel. "She looked very ill, so I took her to hospital," he said.
Fire broke out in Yuan's two-story home on Friday morning when she was taking several of her older adoptees to school. Seven people, including six children and a 20-year-old man, died in the fire.
A 10-year-old boy survived but he remains in intensive care at a hospital in Kaifeng, a city that administers Lankao.
The children were left at home unattended when the fire broke out.
"I hired a nurse to help me look after the kids, but she had a second job at the county hospital. She left every morning after preparing the children's breakfast," Yuan said.
Yuan's daughter Du Juan called her to tell her what happened.
"I ran home and was desperate to dash into the flames, but I passed out," Yuan said.
Eighteen homeless children and young people were staying with her at the time of the accident. Most of them have congenital diseases ranging from infantile paralysis to heart disease. Some are mentally handicapped.
The 10 who were not harmed in the fire have been relocated to a foster home in Kaifeng.
Yuan dismissed speculation she had been unlawfully profiting from under-the-table adoption deals. "Shoot me if you have evidence that I sold any children," she said.
Yuan began taking in orphans and abandoned children in the 1980s but didn't go through formal adoption procedures.
A county official said the government had "unshirkable responsibilities" in the tragedy, which revealed "poor governance and lax regulation."
"Yuan had no qualifications to adopt these children according to law," said a Lankao official.
China's adoption laws limit foster parents to people with no children of their own and who are financially capable of providing for an adopted child.
"Dozens of children would have died if I had not taken them in," Yuan Lihai, 48, said at a hospital ward in Lankao County. "I have a clear conscience."
Yuan, who has a history of high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease, complained of breathing difficulties on Saturday night and was taken to hospital.
Local authorities had been holding her in isolation in a hotel room for questioning. Even her family was unable to find her.
Yuan's son Du Peng said he received a phone call at 10pm and he was given the address of the hotel. "She looked very ill, so I took her to hospital," he said.
Fire broke out in Yuan's two-story home on Friday morning when she was taking several of her older adoptees to school. Seven people, including six children and a 20-year-old man, died in the fire.
A 10-year-old boy survived but he remains in intensive care at a hospital in Kaifeng, a city that administers Lankao.
The children were left at home unattended when the fire broke out.
"I hired a nurse to help me look after the kids, but she had a second job at the county hospital. She left every morning after preparing the children's breakfast," Yuan said.
Yuan's daughter Du Juan called her to tell her what happened.
"I ran home and was desperate to dash into the flames, but I passed out," Yuan said.
Eighteen homeless children and young people were staying with her at the time of the accident. Most of them have congenital diseases ranging from infantile paralysis to heart disease. Some are mentally handicapped.
The 10 who were not harmed in the fire have been relocated to a foster home in Kaifeng.
Yuan dismissed speculation she had been unlawfully profiting from under-the-table adoption deals. "Shoot me if you have evidence that I sold any children," she said.
Yuan began taking in orphans and abandoned children in the 1980s but didn't go through formal adoption procedures.
A county official said the government had "unshirkable responsibilities" in the tragedy, which revealed "poor governance and lax regulation."
"Yuan had no qualifications to adopt these children according to law," said a Lankao official.
China's adoption laws limit foster parents to people with no children of their own and who are financially capable of providing for an adopted child.
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