Party in tribute to flood dead
Beijing's Communist Party secretary, Guo Jinlong, yesterday led a tribute to flood victims in Shidu, the township in Fangshan district hardest hit by last weekend's storm.
The ceremony was apparently intended to assuage public anger over the authorities' rescue efforts and response to the disaster. Residents are still searching for missing family members and say the government has offered little or no help.
Flanked by municipal officials including acting mayor Wang Anshun , Guo admitted that the authorities had learned a hard lesson from the unfolding tragedy. 'We must always remember [the disaster] and improve our efforts to prevent it happening again,' Guo said.
On Thursday authorities for the first time revised up the initial death toll of 37 issued on Sunday.
They said the toll had risen to 77, with 66 of the victims identified.
One of those killed was an eight-month-old girl from Henan province. China Central Television took the unusual step of announcing all 66 names.
Last Saturday's storm, the most severe to hit Beijing in more than 60 years, caused 11.6 billion yuan (HK$14 billion) in economic losses. It displaced 97,000 residents and left 39,000 hectares of land submerged. However, those figures may rise.
With further downpours expected, the government issued a landslide warning for five districts today.
The People's Daily said it was the government's responsibility to disclose key information in times of disaster. It said naming the dead so far identified and their cause of death represented major progress and showed due respect to their families.
'The loss of life reminds us of what we should do both as a country and as individuals' to minimise such tragedies in the future, the paper said.
Amid the mourning, more stories about victims and the circumstances of their deaths emerged.
Xu Xiaofei was a good friend of Wang Yonghui , 22, who drowned while trying to save an acquaintance near a construction site in Shijingshan district on the day of the storm. Xu said Wang would still be alive if officials had taken precautions to prevent people getting close to the area.
She said Wang's parents in Shandong were devastated to learn of Wang's death. Authorities had not contacted them about offering compensation, Xu said.
A cousin of Guo Ying, who went missing in Shidu, said she did not see his name in the list of the victims. Nor had his family been contacted by the authorities even though they told the police he was missing days ago. 'We have no choice but to search for him on our own,' the cousin said. 'His father rushes to the scene wherever a body is retrieved, but we still can't find him. But we have to keep hope alive.'
She said they were deeply disappointed with the Beijing authorities and the central government. Guo's house was destroyed in the floods, but the family only received two boxes of instant noodles.
Yesterday marked the seventh day since the flood, traditionally the day for mourning someone's death and the day the spirits of the deceased are said to return home.
Wary of any mass gatherings that might disrupt social harmony, censors are diligently monitoring the internet for key words such as 'seventh day'.
Renmin University associate professor Wei Dedong, who was among the first to call for the public to mourn the dead, said he had deleted the blog posting carrying the appeal. He refused to say whether he was pressured by authorities to remove it.
Additional reporting by Peyton Guan
