In September this year, a villager in Zhaotong City, Yunnan Province held a funeral at home. On that day, the host set up multiple tables of food in the courtyard for relatives and friends who came to offer condolences. Unexpectedly, a 3-meter high wall on the side of the courtyard suddenly collapsed, resulting in the deaths of 6 people on the spot, including a daughter of Ms. Chen. However, almost two months have passed since the incident, and the authorities have not only failed to provide an accident investigation report but also urged her to cremate the body as soon as possible and prohibit the spread of information.
“I felt like the sky was falling at that moment,” on October 28, Ms. Chen tearfully recounted the course of events to a media outlet. According to Ms. Chen, the host was a distant relative of hers. Following local customs, the day before the funeral, it is customary to invite relatives and friends to offer condolences. As she usually worked in another province and her husband was away on business that day, she sent her 25-year-old daughter Xiao Lu to attend alone.
According to several eyewitnesses, “There was a 3-meter high wall on the edge of the host’s courtyard, with several tables placed at the corner of the wall. My daughter was sitting next to the wall. When she was eating, the wall suddenly collapsed. She couldn’t run in time and was crushed underneath. 6 people died on the spot, and several others were injured.” Ms. Chen’s daughter was the youngest among the deceased, and one of them was Xiao Lu’s paternal aunt.
The appraisal report issued by the Zhaoyang Sub-bureau of the Public Security Bureau in Zhaotong City showed that Xiao Lu died from multiple organ injuries due to blunt force trauma, while Xiao Lu’s aunt, Lu Guoqiong, died from cranial and thoracic double trauma caused by blunt force trauma.
Regarding the cause of the accident, a male villager revealed that it was raining heavily that day, and the host had set up a canopy in the courtyard where the dining tables were placed underneath. “One side of the canopy was tied to the wall with ropes, but the canopy was not properly drained, and water collected on top of it.”
According to the villager, because of too much water accumulating on the canopy, the wall couldn’t bear its weight, leading it to collapse and fall onto the crowd below attending the funeral.
“There were 3 tables near the wall at the time, and one woman shielded her grandson underneath her but unfortunately died. Several people suffered various degrees of injuries, and I heard that several seriously injured individuals were taken to the hospital,” he said.
On September 11, local public security, petition, civil affairs, and other departments intervened in the matter and took turns talking to the family members, stating that it was a natural disaster and hoping the families would agree to cremate the bodies. They offered each deceased person 80,000 yuan in compensation from the host’s family and 66,000 yuan in compensation from several government departments but prohibited revealing the accident.
Under pressure, the other 5 households eventually accepted this arrangement, but Ms. Chen found it difficult to accept.
“I have cherished my daughter for over 20 years, and now she has suddenly met such a disaster. She deserves justice,” Ms. Chen said, but close to 50 days have passed since the incident, and the police have not provided an accident investigation report. Instead, the local government urged her to sign as soon as possible. If she does not agree to cremate, no further compensation will be provided, and she will have to bear the funeral home expenses herself.
Ms. Chen stated, “Even if no compensation is given, the cause of the incident must be thoroughly investigated and disclosed online. I cannot let my daughter die unclearly like this.”