On February 17, the first day of the Chinese New Year, a tourist boat capsized in a resort in Yunnan Province, China. State media reported that the accident resulted in 4 people falling into the water, with 2 of them fatalities. However, local netizens revealed that actually over twenty people fell into the water, with 4 of them losing their lives.
According to the official Chinese Communist Party media Xinhua News Agency, the accident occurred around 4:30 pm on February 17 at Lianxi Bay Tourist Resort in Donghua Township, Chuxiong City, Yunnan Province, when a tourist boat overturned, leading to “4 people falling into the water.” As of 8:30 pm that evening, “2 of the drowning victims were confirmed dead, while the other 2 were still receiving treatment in the hospital.”
However, several local netizens posted online disclosing that, “The actual situation was that over twenty people fell into the water, the boat capsized and people were trapped underneath,” with many people rushing to rescue them, resulting in 4 fatalities, “including a woman in her thirties with two young children who had just moved into a new house before the New Year.”
Regarding the cause of the accident, netizens who were at the scenic spot that day mentioned that there were too many people visiting the area, with one saying, “When we took the small train, they really urged people to get on the train inside the scenic area, regardless of whether it was overloaded or not. I estimate it was the same for the boat rides.”
Netizens expressed dismay, saying, “It’s during the Lunar New Year, what are we going to do?” and “Chuxiong was not doing well in tourism to begin with, and now it’s even worse.”
Some netizens questioned, “Were they not wearing life jackets?” A local netizen responded, “The tourists were villagers from nearby, they thought the life jackets were dirty and didn’t want to wear them.” Another netizen confirmed that there were over twenty people on the boat, including the boat operator, none of whom were wearing life jackets and there were no safety precautions in place.