Shocked by Jingzhou Tragedy

In Jingzhou, Hubei Province, three college students from Changjiang University drowned saving two fellow students who were swept away by the tide. The tragedy happened two weeks ago on the 24th of October when the group of first year journalism students were picnicing at a sandy stretch of the nortorious Baotawan section of the river. This case promptly grabbed national attention, sadly, not particularly because of the self-sacrificing heroes. After people at the scene uploaded photos and told their accounts, the full story emerged and shocked the nation.

When the first two students fell in the water, there were fishing boats standing by but did nothing despite being requested. Out of despair, the students resorted to forming a "human chain" by holding another's hand to reach into the water and pulled them back to safety. Unfortunately, as one person in the chain became exhausted during the process and lost grip, the three students at the front end got swept away by the undercurrents. Members of the local winter swimming club lauched into the water. However, the rescue was futile. Police were also called to the scene. But after a brief walk-around they concluded that a rescue was beyond their capacity. Again at this stage, the boats refused to aid though clearly with their help the likelihood of saving the lives was big. Surprise, the valid question to ask is: did the boatmen really want to see them alive?

When it was obvious that any hope of having them back alive faded, the students asked the boatmen to at least help retrieve the body. A negotiation ensured. The boatmen eventually agreed to a negotiated price of 12000yuan (c. US$1700) per body. And they had to be paid first in cash in full. The university student officers were called to the scene for the negotiation and payment. However, after an hour-long negotiation and preparing the amount of cash, it was getting dark when the boatmen were yet to retrieve the last body. They stopped the process and added another 6000 yuan (c US$850) for operating after dark.

It became later known that some of the boats belonged to a company that monopolized the body-retrieving service on the Baotawan section of the river. It works like this. When someone falls into the water, they wait until the person drowns. Then they secured the body secretly and seal the area of the water so no one gets near their priced "trophy". If any boat outside the company attempts a rescue, it will be smashed the next day. This company also routinely clashed with the volunteer life savers, a group formed by winter swimming club members. The unspoken agreement is that the swimmers are only allowed to rescue those that are still seen floating and struggling on the surface of the water. As soon as they sink, they become entirely a monopolized commodity.

Apparently, the gangland-like operation did not seem to bother the authorities, even if their existence had been long known to the police. The police who came to the scene earlier witnessed the painful process of negotiation and did not utter a word. Citing the lack of resources, the police excused their responsibilites.