Man drowns trying to save beloved puppy
A Beijing resident drowned in a river as he tried to rescue his poodle
A pet owner jumped into a river to save his dog from drowning, only to die while his pet survived.
Witnesses report that Yan held onto the belt with one arm and reached his free hand out towards the puppy, which was about one metre away. Yan was about to grab the puppy when his belt suddenly broke, sending him falling into the river. According to witness statements, Yan did not seem to be able to swim.
Nine firefighters with life jackets and buoys rushed to the scene afterwards and tied themselves to the bridge fence with rescue ropes. They jumped in the water and pulled both Yan’s sinking body and the puppy ashore.
“By the time we arrived, the victim had already been submerged in the water,” firefighter captain Fan Haohao told The Beijing News. “All we could see from the surface were tiny air bubbles… [When we brought him ashore], his neck was purple, his belly had swollen up and he already wasn’t breathing.”
Firefighters attempted to resuscitate Yan, but could not save his life. Yan’s relatives arrived at the scene afterwards, and fell to the ground crying in distress after they saw the broken belt and his body wrapped in a white cloth. The man’s two toy poodles, including the one that had fallen into the water and been rescued, also reportedly stared at their owner’s body in silence.