Teenage boy dies in Chinese desert after going on excursion to improve university entrance resume
- The boy reportedly collapsed twice while hiking a sand dune in Inner Mongolia’s Tengger Desert
- Temperatures had reached 50 degrees Celsius, suggesting he died of heat exposure
Organisers of a hiking trip have come under fire after a 16-year-old boy died last month in the desert in northern China, apparently related to a lack of medical support.
The boys, who were carrying packs weighing as much as 20kg, were expected to walk 18km per day. One day, they found themselves suddenly caught in extremely hot temperatures.
The member of staff in charge of the excursion is accused of not taking Zheng’s symptoms seriously, and even forcing him to continue hiking after he collapsed onto the ground twice, the report said.
After climbing to the top of a sand dune, Zheng rolled down the slope, said a student on the trip, identified by the surname Li. As there is no telephone signal in the desert, the coach only managed to call emergency personnel after Zheng was driven to a highway. The ambulance arrived an hour later.
