Checks ordered on Chinese shelters after 20 deaths at ‘filthy refuge’
Officials from Guangdong centre arrested and hundreds of residents relocated after fatalities ignite outcry over conditions for disadvantaged
China on Wednesday ordered urgent checks of homeless shelters across the country after reports that 20 people died in less than two months in one centre in Guangdong province.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs said local authorities should check the qualifications, facilities, services and safety of all centres, including those outsourcing services to the private sector.
It called for the immediate termination of services that did not pass inspection, and proper arrangements for those receiving care in such centres.
The alarm was raised initially by the death of 15-year-old boy Lei Wenfeng from typhoid at a shelter in Xinfeng county, Shaoguan, in December. Lei, who was autistic, had been in the centre for six weeks before his death.
An investigation by the Beijing News then revealed that 20 people died at the shelter between January 1 and February 18. The deaths, particularly of the boy, ignited a public outcry over the lack of care for disadvantaged groups.
The shelter was housed in a former detention centre, was overcrowded and had poor sanitary conditions, the Beijing News cited sources as saying.
State broadcaster CCTV reported that the person in charge and other employees of the facility had been arrested.