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Stephen Chen

A man was found dead hanging on a road fence in Xian, Shaanxi province, on Wednesday, with his neck stuck in a narrow gap between iron bars. Since 2010, at least four people on the mainland have died in similar “killer fence” incidents, Huashang Daily reports.
Photos taken by witnesses at the scene show the victim was riding an electric scooter when the tragedy occurred, and the position of the vehicle, lying between his legs suggests he was travelling at low speed.
Pregnant Chinese woman dies after getting head stuck in railings as bystanders made desperate rescue attempts
There was a pool of blood under the fence but no visible injuries on the man’s body, and no signs of a collision on the road, according to a police traffic officer involved in the investigation.
The gap in the fence appeared tight, and it seemed impossible for the man’s head to have fit between the bars without the application of external force, which would almost certainly cause physical injury, the report said.
The owner of a grocery ship nearby told the local newspaper that the victim appeared lifeless when an ambulance arrived, and it took the medical personnel some time to remove him from the fence.
The initial result of a forensic examination showed that the man died of suffocation. It is possible the victim hit the fence in an attempt to avoid another vehicle, but more evidence including direct witness accounts and surveillance camera records would be needed to determine the exact cause of his death, police said.
A doctor in Xian Hospital said that in the case of suffocation, the victim could have survived for four to five minutes but he might have also have suffered other injuries such as dislocation of his neck bones, and any hasty removal from the fence could also cause other injuries, which would make rescue difficult.
Chinese building worker survives after steel bar skewers his body from groin to skull
There have been increasing calls on the mainland to change the design of road fences due to reports of other “killer fence” incidents in recent years.
In 2010, an old woman was found dead with her neck stuck in a fence in Nantong, Jiangsu province. In 2013, a young woman was rescued after being trapped for half an hour at a bus stop in Beijing. In 2015, a 60-year-old man in Beijing was found to be dead when rescuers arrived, and in March this year, a pregnant woman in Mizhi, Shaanxi province, was killed in a similar incident.


Man dies after getting head stuck in railings of road fence

The body of a man is suspended by his neck, which is trapped between the bars of a road fence. Photo: SCMP Pictures

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