On October 5th, two students from Hainan Haikou University of Economics in China tragically drowned in the artificial lake on campus.
According to reports from Netease, a cafeteria staff member at the university noticed someone falling into the lake during construction works at the southeast corner of West Lake. They immediately called for help, but no one at the scene took action to rescue the individuals.
Subsequently, the fire rescue team arrived and managed to pull the two male students out of the water. Despite emergency medical treatment on site, the students succumbed to drowning due to the prolonged time spent underwater.
At 23:49 on the same day, Haikou University of Economics posted an official notification on their website confirming that the two drowning victims were students of the university. The incident occurred around 18:00 on October 5th.
The notification did not mention the cause of the drowning. However, a comment left on the video platform by a netizen named “Gaming Enthusiast” suggested, “The most circulated rumor is that one went down to retrieve a shoe and drowned, while the other, unable to swim, went in to rescue the friend and also drowned.”
Haikou University of Economics is a private higher education institution known for its high annual tuition fees ranging from over thirty to fifty thousand. It is dubbed by netizens as an “elite academy.”
The news sparked discussions online with netizens questioning, “How can such incidents happen within the school?” “Was there not a single hero willing to jump in to save someone? Especially in a university setting, it’s truly ironic.”
A knowledgeable netizen expressed, “In this case, I think the outcome was such because nobody dared to go in for the rescue. Even those who can swim just watched, after all, they are not professional lifeguards… with security around and lifebuoys available, someone should have taken action, and the firefighters arrived promptly. The failure was in time and overly equipped.”
“The rescue operation was too slow.” “What’s the use of making an emergency call when minutes matter…” “As long as a person is alive, there’s a chance to save them; it’s quite baffling…”
Additionally, some netizens questioned, “If the incident occurred at 18:00, why did it take until 21:00 to notify the families?” “The families couldn’t even access the surveillance footage.”