Migrant Worker Drowns After Police Chase Him Into River

A crowd gathers in Yanshan County, Hebei Province after a migrant worker jumped into the river to avoid traffic policemen who were pursuing him. The policemen prevented the man from coming onshore, causing him to drown. (Weibo.com)

Having been chased to the edge of a riverbank by traffic policeman, a migrant worker in Yanshan County, Hebei Province, decided to jump into the river. Instead of trying to rescue him, the policeman prevented him from getting back on shore, and looked on as the man drowned.

The news was first posted online and circulated quickly among users of Sina Weibo, a popular Chinese microblogging site. On the morning of June 25, a migrant worker in his 30s was driving several people to work on a “xiao sanlun,” a tricycle with a large tray attached to it. When a traffic policeman stopped the worker for overloading his vehicle, the man became frightened and ran away. 

The netizen who broke the news was interviewed by Chinese web portal NetEase, who explained that the man fled because traffic policemen in Yanshan County are known to severely beat people they catch violating rules. The worker first rode away on his tricycle until he reached heavy traffic, when he abandoned his vehicle and fled on foot. He ran toward the river, and two traffic policemen continued to pursue him until he reached the riverbank. The man jumped into the river and swam to the opposite shore. However, one of the traffic cops came to the shore and prevented him from coming up. The man cried for help, but the policeman blocked others from trying to rescue him, according to the report. The netizen posted online that the policeman had called out, “If you have the guts to jump, then don’t bother to come back up.”
 
A bystander dialed 119, China’s emergency hotline, but when rescuers arrived, they stood behind a nearby building and refused to rescue the man. About an hour later, local villagers mobilized to paddle a wooden boat in search of the man. Three hours later, villagers finally pulled up the worker on shore, but he was already dead.

Netizens were outraged at the news, calling the policemen murderers who forced the man to his death. A Sina Weibo user with the avatar “Heavenly Maiden Scattering Flower Petals” said, “I’ve had it with public servants who have been completely brainwashed by the Chinese Communist Party. When have they ever showed signs of having human nature or a conscience? All officials in China have become like this.”

When Epoch Times tried to call the office of the public security bureau in Yanshan County, a staff responded that all media should contact the political division of the bureau. At the time of writing, calls to the political division went unanswered.

Translated by Frank Fang.