news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

Produced by Zhang Lihao

Overview News Reporter Gao Pengfei Yin Ming

On August 12, multiple videos with the same content were circulated on the Internet. The videos said that on the afternoon of August 11, tourists were rafting in Wugong Mountain Scenic Area in Jiangxi Province when the water suddenly rose. The rafting boat that some tourists were riding capsized and was washed away by the flood. On the afternoon of the 12th, a reporter from Zonglan News contacted Ms. Wang, a tourist whose relatives were washed away by the flood. Ms. Wang told the reporter from Zonglan News that it was her daughter and son-in-law who were washed away by the flood. When her daughter was found that night, she had unfortunately died, and her son-in-law was injured and hospitalized. At present, they are negotiating with the scenic area, but there is no result yet.

At around 14:00 on the 11th, Ms. Wang and her daughter and their family of three went to the Wanlong Gorge rafting project in the Wugong Mountain Scenic Area to play rafting. At that time, Ms. Wang took her grandson on a rafting boat, and her daughter Ms. Guo and son-in-law Mr. Li set off in another rafting boat. Ms. Wang said that after drifting for about ten minutes, when the boat Ms. Wang was on came to a wide area in the middle reaches, she heard a notice from the staff on the intercom, saying that the water level in the upper reaches had risen and asked everyone to go ashore as soon as possible. At this time, the boat Ms. Guo and Mr. Li were still in the upper reaches. Ms. Wang quickly called Ms. Guo and agreed that she and her grandson would go ashore first in the middle reaches, and let her daughter and son-in-law continue to drift down to the middle reaches and then go ashore to meet.

On August 11, the flooding scene of the Wanlongxia rafting project (Source/video screenshot provided by netizens)

Less than ten minutes after Ms. Wang and her grandson came ashore, she found that the water level rose rapidly. Looking from the shore, the water level in the middle reaches rose by about 1 meter. Ms. Wang said that it was about 200 meters from the upstream where she entered the water to the place where she came ashore, and it would take at most a few minutes to drift down, but there was a steep slope upstream that would delay the time. It started to rain and there was no place to hide from the rain. Ms. Wang was worried that her grandson would get wet, so she took someone else's motorcycle to a nearby post station to continue waiting. While waiting, Ms. Wang kept calling Ms. Guo and Mr. Li, but could not get through. At around 16:00, Mr. Li called Ms. Wang and said that he was sent to the post station, and his wife fell into the water and had not been found. "I knew something had happened when I saw that my daughter didn't come."

Ms. Wang's sister told Zonglan News that according to Mr. Li's later account, the couple's rafting boat capsized during the drifting process, and both fell into the water. Mr. Li could swim, and after he climbed up, he grabbed a bamboo pole handed over by the safety officer, but Ms. Guo failed to grab the bamboo pole and was washed away by the flood. After Mr. Li climbed ashore, he saw his wife in the water and went into the water to rescue her, but Mr. Li was injured and physically exhausted and could not catch up, so he could only watch his wife being washed away in pain. That night, the scenic spot told Ms. Wang's family that Ms. Guo had been found, but she could not be rescued and had unfortunately died.

The relatives of the suspected victims recounted the incident online (Source/Internet)

"They said they tried to rescue her, but then they failed, so they took my niece's body directly to the funeral home." Ms. Wang's sister said that it was not until the afternoon of the 12th that someone took them to see Ms. Guo's body.

At present, Ms. Guo's family is negotiating with the scenic spot on this matter, but no agreement has been reached. In addition, the family still has many questions that need to be explained clearly by the scenic spot. Ms. Wang said that they are locals in Pingxiang. Ms. Guo is 31 years old and has been married to Mr. Li for six or seven years. They have a son who is just 4 years old. She can't accept it. They were originally a happy family, but suddenly they were separated by life and death. Now, the son-in-law has broken ribs and intracranial hemorrhage. Because of the serious injuries, he is still receiving treatment in the hospital.

On the morning of the 12th, another netizen also posted a video describing some of the circumstances at the scene of the incident. According to the information that this netizen replied to other netizens in the comment area, it rained on the mountain the day before the incident. On the way to the scenic spot on the 11th, he called the scenic spot staff at 11:00 and 12:00 respectively to confirm whether he could go rafting that day. The scenic spot staff said yes and did not receive any notice to stop rafting. After the flood, this netizen climbed to the opposite side of the canyon and saw with his own eyes that a couple fell into the water and were washed away. Later, the man climbed ashore and the woman was washed away. This netizen also said that the scenic spot's emergency plan was very inadequate, no safe evacuation passage was prepared, and the accident was not handled in a timely manner. It was almost entirely up to the safety guards and tourists to save themselves.

Wanlongxia Rafting Scenic Area issued a notice on the suspension of rafting on the 11th (Source/Wanlongxia Rafting WeChat Account)

A reporter from Zonglan News learned from a rescuer from the Pingxiang Sunshine Rescue Team that about 30 tourists were trapped after the flood. The team used ropes to safely transfer all the tourists, including two trapped children, deep in the mountains. He was very surprised about Ms. Wang's death, "We contacted various departments at the time and confirmed that all the tourists had been rescued."

According to the official WeChat account of "Wugong Mountain Wanlong Gorge Rafting", the Wugong Mountain Wanlong Gorge Rafting Scenic Area officially opened on July 22, 2022. The rafting project is located in Wanlong Mountain, 500 meters away from the Wanlong Mountain Township Government, 14 kilometers away from the Yangsimu Scenic Area, and adjacent to the Wugong Mountain Hot Spring Junlan Resort Hotel. The rafting starts in the valley of the upper reaches of the Yihong River in Wanlong Mountain Township and ends at the bridgehead of Wanlong Mountain Dongkeng Village (Tourist Reception Center). The total length of the rafting is about 5 kilometers and the rafting time is about one and a half hours.

Zonglan News reporter noticed that on the evening of the 11th, the Wugong Mountain Wanlong Gorge Rafting WeChat public account issued a notice to stop rafting, saying that "due to the influence of rainy weather, the river needs to be repaired. In order to ensure the experience and safety of tourists, Wanlong Gorge Rafting will be suspended from August 12."

Regarding this matter, on the morning of the 12th, the reporter contacted the Wugong Mountain Scenic Area Management Committee and the Wanlong Township Government, but the calls were hung up when the reporter identified himself, and no one answered the call again. The staff of the Wanlong Mountain Township Police Station said they were not aware of the matter. Afterwards, the reporter called the official ticket booking number for the Wanlong Gorge Rafting Project, and the staff also said they were not clear about the matter. On the afternoon of the 12th, the staff of the Cultural Tourism Publicity Office of the Wugong Mountain Scenic Area Management Committee said that they would verify the reporter's interview and call back. As of press time, no reply was received.