Shanghai Minhang District elderly petitioner Shen Yongde, aged over 70, died suddenly on a train from Beijing to Shanghai (train number 1461) yesterday (22nd).
On September 22, train 1461 from Beijing to Shanghai carried 39 petitioners from Shanghai who were being sent back, and Shen Yongde was among them. He was found unconscious in the train toilet and despite emergency aid such as acupressure by a fellow petitioner who knew how to administer it, it was discovered that he had no signs of life. The police accompanying the train were informed only after a loud shout of “someone is dead!”.
The train was temporarily stopped at a small station, and the six police officers accompanying the group carried the body off. Subsequently, the police officers took statements and signatures from several petitioners on the train and removed the surveillance cameras from the carriage.
Shen Yongde, a male petitioner in his 70s from Minhang District, Shanghai. On the morning of September 21, he arrived in Beijing with 18 other Shanghai petitioners. After exiting the station, they walked to the bus stop for bus 122 across the street, preparing to go to the State Bureau for Letters and Calls. However, they were intercepted by Beijing police and informed that they would be taken to the Yongdingmen Reception Center by the Shanghai municipal government liaison office in Beijing (a transit center specifically for detaining Shanghai petitioners).
In the afternoon, the Beijing police conducted interrogations of these 19 petitioners, questioning them about their purpose in Beijing, who organized the trip, who led the group, and where they planned to go, among other inquiries.
According to a petitioner named Yang, “The 19 of us were interrogated in two batches, one at 5 pm and the other at midnight. Most petitioners were interrogated for about 4 hours, some even into the late hours of the night. Throughout the process, Shen Yongde repeatedly complained to the Beijing police and the Shanghai liaison office staff about feeling unwell, but his complaints were ignored.”
On September 22, these 19 petitioners, along with others who had previously arrived in Beijing, a total of 39 people, were escorted onto the train bound for Shanghai. There were six police officers accompanying them.
After boarding the train, Shen Yongde continued to feel unwell. Only after requests from him and other petitioners did a doctor on the train come to examine him. It was confirmed that his medical condition required treatment, but despite the doctor’s advice, the liaison office insisted on deporting him to Shanghai.
Shen Yongde went to the toilet due to persistent bloating in his abdomen. After more than half an hour, fellow passengers on the train noticed his prolonged absence and found him lying on the floor.
At this point, Yang said, “Someone called me to check on him. I felt his pulse, applied acupressure, but after attempting emergency aid, it was evident that he had no vital signs, and I shouted, ‘He’s dead!’ That’s when the police finally arrived.”
The train made an unscheduled stop at a small station, and after the police officers carried Shen Yongde’s body off the train, two officers got into an ambulance.
According to Shanghai retired teacher and activist Gu Guoping, he was on the 1462 train headed to Beijing. Around 3 pm, he received news from other petitioners that Shen Yongde had died on the 1461 train.
Gu Guoping mentioned that Shen Yongde was also a petitioner due to losses in his housing demolition and land expropriation compensation rights, and he was around 72 years old.
Shanghai petitioner Yu Zhonghuan told reporters that after Shen Yongde’s death, most petitioners were too scared to spread the news. He mentioned that after posting about Shen Yongde’s death on WeChat, some petitioners cautiously shared information using a private notebook on WeChat, “Don’t ask too much about the incident of Shen Yongde collapsing in the toilet on the 1461 train today and dying despite being taken to the hospital. Keep it low-profile along with Ma Changfa.”
After Shen Yongde’s body was removed from the train, the train continued on its journey to Shanghai. Upon their return to Shanghai, the other petitioners were given admonitions when they were dispersed at the Fucun Road Assistance Station.