Parents who lost son will get 200,000 yuan
A Gansu couple who lost their infant son in the tainted-milk scandal became the first to accept compensation - 200,000 yuan (HK$227,400) - and relinquish any future chance of suing over their child's death, state media said.
Meanwhile, dozens of angry parents who have rejected the payouts gathered outside Shijiazhuang Intermediate People's Court yesterday, demanding more compensation from Sanlu Group, the main manufacturer of the contaminated formula.
The five-month-old son of Gansu farmer Yi Yongsheng and his wife, Jiao Hongfang , died last May from kidney failure after drinking Sanlu milk powder since birth. He was believed to have been the first of at least six babies who have died nationwide as a result of drinking the melamine-tainted formula.
Lawyer Shen Xianlei said his clients had accepted the money from Sanlu Group because compensation handed down by courts was unlikely to exceed the amount awarded in previous verdicts.
He said the average compensation for a death awarded by local courts was only one-fifth of what the couple would receive.
He said parents from developed regions such as Guangdong, where such compensation was much higher, would be likely to reject the offer.
