Saturday, September 10, 2011

A forgotten accident

64 people lost their lives when a ferry sunk near a sand filed in Shaoyang, Hunan Province on September 9, 2011. The same area where children were taken away by government agencies to be sold to adoptive families for profit.

The ferry was certified to a capacity of 30, but carried more than 100 passengers, mostly local middle school students going home on the Moon Festival vacation.

Official Xinhua News reported the death toll as 8, later revised to 11. Numerous sources and photos from the scene showed bodies of dozens, and a body count of 64. Nobody knows how many were on the boat, so 64 is only a lower bound.

Unlike the bullet train accident, the ferry tragedy did not raise much attention online. It was already forgotten two days later.

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