Around the nation: Chinese boy left behind after toilet stop at gas station
Also, poppy-planting villager claims he has them for salad, and gang busted for using banned additives to make food look fresh
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 22 February, 2015, 8:27pm
UPDATED : Sunday, 22 February, 2015, 8:30pm
A worker at the petrol station in Henan, China, found the crying boy wandering alone after his mother and uncle accidentally left without him. Photo: Dahe.cn
BEIJING
Boat-death verdict
A Tongzhou court has awarded the family of a woman who died in a motorboat accident 790,000 yuan (HK$995,000) in compensation, the Beijing Times reports. The woman had gone out to sea with a friend in Tangshan , Hebei , last year, but they fell from the boat. The woman, who could not swim, died although she was wearing a life jacket. Her parents sued several parties for one million yuan, but the court ruled the woman was herself partly responsible for the accident.
Lucky-draw cheater jailed
A sales manager at e-shop Jd.com has been sentenced to 11 months in jail for embezzling 90,000 yuan in cash coupons, the Beijing Times reports. The man, 38, had created eight accounts on the website and in a 2013 lucky draw, listed them as winners of cash coupons, which he collected and spent. He turned himself in to police after his company grew suspicious.
GUANGDONG
Man dies in train toilet
An elderly man lay dead for eight hours in the toilet of a train before he was finally found when it reached its destination in Shenzhen, the Sou thern Metropolis News reports. The man's son was waiting for him at the train station and asked a train conductor for help when his father did not appear. The conductor found the body of the man, who had collapsed, in a toilet. A coroner said he had been dead for eight hours.
Hoarders escape blaze
A family of three had a lucky escape after their garbage caught fire, causing their three-storey flat in Zhuhai to go up in flames, Guangzhou Daily reports. Neighbours said a woman in the flat hoarded piles of paper and plastic. A neighbour spotted the blaze early on Saturday and banged on their door to wake the family, who jumped to a neighbour's balcony for safety. Firemen took over an hour to put out the fire.
HAINAN
Injured fisherman saved
A Sansha fisherman was saved after suffering serious injuries as a result of falling 4.5 metres from the deck of his boat off Huangyan Island on Thursday, China News Service reports. The sea rescue authority sent a vessel and a medical team to rescue the man and take him to a hospital on Yongxing Island, a 10-hour sail away. He is in a stable condition.
Longer duty-free list
Hainan will expand the number of duty-free goods to 38 and relax purchase quotas for some items after a test run of duty-free shopping on the island fell short of expectations, People's Daily reports. From March 20, Hainan's duty-free goods will include air purifiers, home medical equipment and infant formula, and the quota for buying perfume, cosmetics and watches will be increased. Duty-free shoppers accounted for only 10 per cent of tourists, who spent an average of 2,680 yuan each.
HENAN
Massive highway crash
A 21-vehicle pile-up in Xuchang city on Saturday left two drivers injured, China News Service reports. The incident occurred after a truck overturned on an icy road. Two drivers were trapped in their vehicles and taken to hospital. A section of the highway was closed. The traffic authorities blamed fog, with visibility less than 5 metres.
Young boy left behind
A mother and uncle left a young boy at a Pingdingshan service station on Friday and returned to pick him up two hours later, Dahe Daily reports. A petrol station worker found the boy crying on the highway. He said he had been in his uncle's car, but couldn't find it after he came back from the toilet. He did not know his mother's phone number. The mother and uncle each thought the boy was in the other's car.
HUNAN
Family outing turns tragic
Three people died and six were missing after a private vessel capsized in Shaoyang county on Saturday, Rednet.cn reports. Eighteen people, all family members, were on board the vessel on a trip home from an island when the vessel sank. Nine people were rescued and are in stable condition.
Mao gets more visitors
More than 128,000 people visited Shaoshanchong, the hometown of late leader Mao Zedong , on Saturday, the first day of the Lunar New Year, Hunan Daily reports. The figure was over 25 per cent more than the same day last year, despite rain this year. It has become a custom for some to visit the area over the Lunar New Year. One visitor said he had been doing so for the last 20 years.
SHAANXI
Theme-park death
A Shangluo teenager was killed on Friday when a theme park ride started suddenly after the girl's safety belt was removed, Huashang Daily reports. The 17-year-old high school pupil had just finished the ride and a staff member was undoing her safety belt when the ride started again. The girl was thrown to the ground from a height of at least 20 metres. Her friend said the staff member did not even try to stop the ride when the incident occurred.
Farmers go online
The Shaanxi agriculture department will train 1,000 farmers to become e-commerce entrepreneurs this year in an effort to raise the farmers' earnings, Huashang Daily reports. It will set up platforms on popular e-commerce sites as well as 100 model townships focused on selling agricultural products online. The department's move is aimed at cutting distribution links and lowering trade costs, so as to increase the farmers' income.
SHANDONG
Food comes first
Shandong people have ranked making dumplings as the most important activity in promoting family unity during the Lunar New Year, according to a survey by Dazhong Daily. Visiting relatives and friends came next on their list, followed by watching the CCTV Spring Festival gala and travelling. Dumplings are a traditional new-year dish for the people in the province.
Poppies in your salad?
Police in Juye county have destroyed nearly 1,000 poppy plants planted by a villager who claimed he used them only to make salad, Iqilu.com reports. Police inspected the villager's home on a tip-off but were told by the man that he only mixed the plants with vinegar and ate them as salad. Another villager who heard of the raid destroyed more than 3,000 of his plants himself. Poppy planting is banned in China except by an authorised firm in Gansu . It is not clear if the villagers were charged, but cultivating over 500 poppy plants carries a jail term.
SHANGHAI
Hostel fire extinguished
Firefighters had to remove a burning liquefied gas cylinder from the kitchen of a hostel in Jinshan district after it caught fire on Saturday, the Shanghai Morning Post reports. The cylinder's vault was damaged and firefighters managed to put out the fire within an hour after removing it from the kitchen. Guests in the hostel were evacuated and no one was injured in the accident.
'Fresh food' gang busted
Police in Hongkou district have busted a workshop that had been adding banned additives in food to make them look fresh as hotpot material, the Shanghai Morning Post reports. The suspects said they dipped ox stomach parts and sea cucumber - both popular hotpot dishes - in industrial base to make them appear fresher and more appealing to customers. Police had acted on a tip-off.
