Recently, floods have broken out in various parts of China, leading to a tragic incident where a 24-year-old female food delivery rider in Sichuan, who had only joined the delivery service last month, sadly drowned in heavy rain, leaving behind a 2-year-old child. This incident has sparked heated discussions among netizens, with some Chinese internet users criticizing the delivery platforms for their lack of responsibility, while overseas netizens point out the root cause lies in the rule of the Chinese Communist Party.
According to mainland media reports from Jimo News on the 25th, on the morning of July 23rd, a 24-year-old female food delivery rider in Guxong Town, Xingwen County, Sichuan, was delivering meals on an electric bike when she passed by a local river. As the water had already flooded the road, she accidentally fell into the river while crossing a bridge, losing contact. That evening, her family posted on social media to find her.
A rescue team member who participated in the search mentioned that after the incident, more than ten Blue Sky Rescue team members rushed to the scene for the search and rescue mission. Later that evening on the 23rd, they found the electric bike the woman was riding submerged at a distance of about 10 meters from the incident site at the bottom of the river. On the morning of the 25th, the team found the body of the female delivery rider about 50 meters away from the incident site and then retrieved it.
The sister of the deceased revealed that she was only 24 years old, with a 2-year-old child at home, and had just started delivering food last month.
This incident has stirred up discussions among Chinese netizens, with many condemning some food delivery platform companies for disregarding the safety of riders by prioritizing algorithms and forcing them to deliver on time even in harsh weather conditions, completely disregarding the safety of these laborers and blatantly exploiting them.
“Food delivery platforms should compensate; this is a work-related injury. The platform cannot evade its responsibility.”
“Is this being promoted on Douyin and Kuaishou? Everyone talks about how you can earn tens of thousands by delivering for a month, leading to everyone wanting to try. Now elderly, children, women, university students are all joining, causing internal competition while creating unstable road conditions everywhere – all harm with no benefit!”
“Those who have delivered food know that the worse the weather, the higher the delivery fee. She must have wanted to earn more to buy delicious food for her baby.”
“Delivering food, crossing a bridge, falling into a river. Can a bridge without a guardrail actually exist in a public area?”
Some also questioned the abilities of the rescuers, “They found the electric bike on the 23rd, yet the body was only found about 50 meters away on the 25th. How large was the search area? Sometimes it feels like losing a pet in a rich family is more important.”
On an overseas platform, netizens have a different perspective:
“As a Chinese-American, whenever Chinese people boast to me about how convenient and cheap Chinese food delivery is, I feel uncomfortable. You have to know that this convenience comes at the expense of others’ blood and tears.”
“Blaming the food delivery platforms as if condemning capital exploitation is not only misdirected but also gives the real culprits another convenient scapegoat.”
“The type of enterprises reflects the kind of system in place. While food delivery platforms are to blame, the fundamental issue lies in the CCP’s authoritarian rule. For example, if Tesla were to increase salaries for its employees in China, it would face criticism from Chinese companies in the same industry.”
“Lead poisoning, fecal tap water, 6 young interns dying during practice, children going missing, food delivery deaths in floods! How many more tragic daily occurrences can a so-called ‘prosperous era’ have? Let Hua Chunying come out and talk about it!”