On May 19th, a male student from Chongqing College of Foreign Economy and Trade fell into a pit latrine covered with wooden planks and tragically passed away. The absence of a warning sign at the pit latrine stirred up anger among the public. However, the school’s subsequent notification not only failed to mention the incident but also instructed students to delete online posts about it, leading to accusations of an attempt to cover up the truth.
According to reports by Dafeng News, a student who was aware of the situation mentioned that on the afternoon of May 19th, after just finishing a physical education class, he and his classmate, Liu Gang (pseudonym), were walking side by side to return basketballs to the school. When they reached the area between the playground and the basketball court, Liu Gang suddenly stepped on a pit latrine covered with decaying wooden planks and fell into the pit. After the incident, he called for help loudly, and teachers and students rushed to the scene to assist. They immediately called emergency services for help.
Another person familiar with the incident, Xiao Feng (pseudonym), told Litchi News that the area where the incident occurred was a must-pass route between the sports equipment room and the lawn. The lawn was paved with flagstones, allowing only one person to pass through. The pit latrine involved in the accident had no cover, only a wooden plank covering it, with grass on top, and the plank had already decayed.
Xiao Feng mentioned that someone borrowed a nearly 6-meter-long javelin from the equipment room and tried to reach the bottom of the pit but couldn’t touch it. Initially, they heard the sound of splashing water, but then there was silence, and everything inside was pitch black.
According to Xiao Feng, the student who tragically passed away would have turned 20 years old in July.
Following this, on May 20th, Chongqing College of Foreign Economy and Trade issued a notification stating that on the afternoon of May 19th, a student fell into a pit latrine, resulting in one fatality. At 3:51 pm that day, the student “accidentally fell into the pit latrine” after a physical education class, and despite the efforts of fellow students, the teacher was informed, and the school immediately initiated rescue efforts and contacted emergency services, but tragically the student passed away.
The school’s notification sparked skepticism online.
A prominent Weibo user criticized the school for being vague in its notification and avoiding the issue of the missing cover. The pit was only covered by a wooden plank with green grass on top, disguising it. The plank, exposed to sun and rain, was no longer able to bear weight, essentially creating a “pit latrine trap.” The school described the incident as an “accidental fall,” which the user termed shameless, especially as the school covered the pit latrine after the student’s death.
Furthermore, according to some informed netizens, the area where the incident occurred was a deep and biohazardous pit rather than a pit latrine, with no prominent warning signs in the vicinity. However, post-incident, the school’s primary concern was to suppress information, threatening students to refrain from posting any “inappropriate comments” online and having instructors monitor each student’s social media posts. Netizens criticized this disregard for life as not being something a school should condone.
The actions of the school ignited anger among a large number of netizens. On May 20th, the topic “University student falls into pit latrine, voice of deceased student” soared to the second spot in Weibo’s hot search list.
Public records show that Chongqing College of Foreign Economy and Trade was established on September 1, 2004, and is a private institution with the last name Guo as its legal representative.