Grief-stricken dozens march to demand justice for their dead children
The parents whose children died when Fuxin No2 Primary School collapsed in the Sichuan quake mourned their loss yesterday amid the building's ruins and marched to the government office to demand justice.
In the heat, the walk from Fuxin to Mianzhu town took longer than usual. But the parents of about 50 children - each tightly clutching photos of their lost children - insisted on making the 90-minute journey, saying they wanted to do something for their lost ones on this day.
'It's Children's Day. We always take our children out on this day, since they do not have to go to school,' said Xiong Ying, whose daughter Liu Xinyue would have turned 11 on May 23. 'We want to show our children what the town looks like, and also the beautiful tents we heard of, which they would like very much.'
They also wanted an official explanation for what they believed was a tragedy tied to 'tofu projects' - namely shoddy construction and corruption. They were expecting some information yesterday, but were told they would have to wait at least until June 20.
But the parents abandoned the march when another group of emotional parents from Jiulong Primary School joined them. The Fuxin parents did not want to appear to be troublemakers and they believed Jiulong's collapse was a different case.
'We do not trust the local government. We hope the central government can intervene and help us,' said single father Wang Xingxi, a construction worker. 'I regret not having spent enough time with her,' he said on the verge of crying for his daughter. 'I only seek justice for her.'