Follow us on TWITTER: http://twitter.com/cnforbiddennews Like us on FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/chinaforbiddennews On Sept. 9, a shipwreck occurred in Shaoyang County, Hunan Province. However, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) controlled media refused to report on the tragedy. According to locals and netizens, 63 bodies were found washed up on shore, on the morning of Sept. 10. It was reported that the overcrowded ship ran into a sand pile dug by a nearby dredger. Thus, it is impossible for local officials to escape responsibility. Around 3:20 p.m. on Sept. 9, a passenger ship capsized in Shaoyang County, Hunan Province. As mainland media reported, most passengers were children that were left at home by their migrant worker parents. At 9:00 a.m. on Sept. 10, officials claimed that there were only 43 people aboard the ship, and 11 people died. Ms. Zhou, a local resident of Shaoyang County, said: "Government personnel were called in to search for bodies. They put bodies here and there, thus no one could tell exactly how many people had died. Wherever they found a body, that's where put them. It is impossible that only a few dozen people had died." A local resident blogged that the passenger ship was severely overcrowded and that at least 63 bodies were found. Insiders blogged that "The bodies were all junior high school students, mostly girls." Netizen, Shang Pin, a local kindergarten teacher, blogged that almost 100 people were on board, 80 of whom were students returning home. She also confirmed that more than 60 people had died. Other netizens verified her information. Netizen, Wu Zhaoyong001, said, "I am from Shaoyang. All of my relatives live on the side of the river where the accident occurred. They witnessed the entire scene. T hey watched as one body after another was found, including the bodies of my distant relatives, 63 in total." He said, "Some people sent threatening text messages to me, as no one is permitted to release death data without official confirmation." Shang Pin said: "The ship capsized in a place called Hengchong's dock. It hit a dredger boat's steel cable." But some people claim that the ship collided with the dredger, while others say that the ship hit a large mound of sand near the dredger. But however it happened, each version of the story was linked to the dredger. Ms. Zhou said many people freely dredge the river for sand, which has adversely affected residents in her hometown, Tangtian City in Shaoyang County. Ms. Zhou: "The river used to be very clean, but now it can't be used anymore, even for washing clothes. There are so many dredgers out there, and all they want is sand. They never fill in the holes that they dig. Some places are very deep. And when water rises up, no one knows how deep it is below." An Internet article disclosed that most people in Shaoyang County are poor. Most young people work out of the area. When county officials applied for national subsidies, they were turned down because "every section-level cadre drives an expensive car." Thus, local governors "ask permission to use available land resources." They cut down trees in state-owned forests, collude with gangs, mine coal and manganese deposits, and even let gangs run and monopolize the transportation industry, just to fill their coffers. In addition, authorities allow gangs to dredge rivers for sand, which destroys nearby fertile farmlands. The whole environment has been seriously devastated. Gravel is being dug up and piled up in the river like hills. What lies beside these "hills" are very deep holes. The author of the article, "Shaoyang Shipwreck: Dredging Leads to Tragedy," said: "An overcrowded ship is part of the problem, but the dredger is the culprit!" Shandong-based lawyer, Liu Weiguo, blogged: "The shipwreck in Shaoyang County, Hunan Province, highlights the government's criminal omission. Lack of transportation and crowded ships must have existed for more than one day! Do not make the ship owners the scapegoat. Since it was the last scheduled trip of that day, no one had the heart to make the teenagers wait until the next day to go home. The overcrowded ship was due to the government's omission." News of the Shaoyang shipwreck spread very quickly online. Netizens expressed their anger over the information blockade regarding the incident and the fact that local governors are terribly corrupt. NTD reporters Wu Wei and Wang Mingyu. 《神韵》2011世界巡演新亮点 http://www.ShenYunPerformingArts.org/

• published: 12 Sep 2011
• views: 1603