On August 12, the Wu Gong Mountain in Pingxiang City, Jiangxi Province reported that on the afternoon of August 11, tourists encountered rising water while playing in the Wu Gong Mountain scenic area in Jiangxi. A raft carrying some tourists overturned, resulting in one fatality and one injury. Family members questioned the qualifications of the on-site security staff at the scenic area, accusing them of negligence during the incident.
According to Mrs. Wang, the mother of the deceased, she, her daughter, son-in-law, and grandson went to Wu Gong Mountain for a visit, looking forward to experiencing the thrilling Wanlong Canyon rafting. Due to weight restrictions on the rafts, the family of four split into two boats. Mrs. Wang and her grandson set off first, while her daughter Mrs. Guo and son-in-law Mr. Li followed in another boat. After rafting for just ten minutes, Mrs. Wang suddenly heard the staff warning through the intercom that water levels were rising upstream and they needed to disembark quickly.
Mrs. Wang hurried to find a place to land. Upon reaching a safe area, she said the water level rose instantly by one meter. Meanwhile, her daughter and son-in-law were still upstream. Despite frantic attempts to call them, she couldn’t reach them. It wasn’t until around 4 p.m. that she received a call from her son-in-law, Mr. Li, informing her that their raft had capsized during the surge, with both falling into the water. Mr. Li, able to swim, grabbed a bamboo pole handed by a security guard. However, Mrs. Guo failed to grasp the pole and was swept away by the strong current. Despite Mr. Li’s attempt to rescue her, his injuries and exhaustion prevented him from reaching her before witnessing his wife being washed away. Mr. Li suffered broken ribs and a skull fracture, requiring hospitalization.
Mrs. Wang revealed that her daughter, 31 years old, had been married to Mr. Li for six to seven years and they have a four-year-old son.
Following the rising water incident, approximately 30 tourists, including two children, were trapped. Mrs. Wang’s daughter lost her life, and her body was found that same evening, then directly taken to the funeral home without notifying the family. It wasn’t until the afternoon of the 12th that some family members were taken to view Mrs. Guo’s body.
Family members of Mrs. Wang questioned the qualifications of the on-site security guards at the scenic area, alleging their inaction during the emergency. During the incident, one of the guards even remarked, “If I knew that man (Mrs. Wang’s son-in-law) wasn’t going to be saved.”
On the morning of the 12th, a netizen disclosed that there had been a brief rain shower on the mountain the day before the incident. That morning, he called the scenic area inquiring about rafting, to which the staff assured him there were no issues and no advisories to halt rafting.
The netizen criticized that the scenic area’s emergency response plan was severely lacking. They didn’t have adequate safety evacuation measures prepared, and post-incident handling was delayed, with safety relying heavily on guests and staff self-rescue efforts.