The Paper's reporter Zhu Yuanxiang
Two girls drowned in a reservoir in Rucheng County, Chenzhou, Hunan Province, and the family and the reservoir manager and developer disputed compensation liability, and the lawsuit went all the way to the Hunan High Court.
Recently, The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) learned from lawyers that after mediation, the reservoir manager and the developer paid the two girls' family compensation of 102,000 yuan and 140,000 yuan respectively, and the family withdrew the retrial application to the Hunan High Court. In addition, the family of the deceased applied to the relevant authorities for judicial assistance.
On January 18, the families of the two drowned girls came to Changsha and presented pennants to the judges of the Hunan High Court and their lawyers.
On January 18, the family of the deceased presented a pennant to Chen Anran, a judge of the Hunan Higher People's Court, and others. The pictures in this article are all pictures of The Paper's reporter Zhu Yuanxiang
This right to life dispute case was triggered by a drowning accident. On May 30, 2020, two girls drowned in the Chang'an Reservoir, about 2 kilometers from the county seat of Rucheng. After the incident, the family of the deceased sued the reservoir management office and the developer who contracted the operation.
The facts ascertained by the courts of first instance and second instance restored the course of the incident at that time. That afternoon, two 15-year-old school dropout girls, Xiao Zhu and Xiao He, came to the Chang'an Reservoir with two other 13-year-old junior high school girls, who thought the scenery was suitable for shooting "Kuaishou" videos. At that time, four girls played along the steps of the dam to the water's edge, and Xiao Zhu and Xiao He drowned when they entered the deep water area. In the afternoon and evening, the two girls were salvaged one after another, and neither showed signs of life.
Chang'an Reservoir is a small Type I reservoir under the jurisdiction of the Longhudong Reservoir Management Office in Rucheng County. In 2015, Chenzhou Luyuan Ecotourism Industry Development Company contracted the Chang'an Reservoir to develop the "Luyuan Chang'an Eco-city" tourism real estate project.
The Chang'an Reservoir where the drowning accident occurred.
The parents of the two deceased sued that at the time of the incident, there were no guardrails, monitoring and other safety measures around the Chang'an Reservoir, the two girls drowned for more than ten minutes without rescue, and the defendants Longhudong Reservoir Management Office and Luyuan Ecological Company had major faults and should bear the corresponding tort liability.
The two defendants claimed that the fault responsibility for the accident should be borne by the deceased himself and his guardian.
In November 2020, the Rucheng County Court of First Instance held that the two deceased were both at least 15 years old and should have the ability to judge the danger of the deep water area of the reservoir appropriate to their age, and their parents, as guardians, neglected to supervise the children, so the plaintiff should bear the main responsibility in this case.
The court of first instance also held that after the Development of the Chang'an Eco-City project by Luyuan Ecological Company, the Chang'an Reservoir was located near the residential area and the school, and the area around the reservoir became a public place, although there were warning signs on the side of the reservoir, but there were no safety protection measures; on the day of the incident, neither defendant arranged personnel to inspect, both neglected safety management, and the protection was not in place, "failing to fulfill the safety guarantee obligation within a reasonable limit, and there was a fault in this case." ”
The Rucheng County Court calculated the death compensation and other losses according to the nature of the deceased's household registration, and ruled that the plaintiff was mainly responsible, and awarded the Longhudong Reservoir Management Office to bear 25% of the liability, compensating the two plaintiffs for more than 99,000 yuan and 220,000 yuan respectively; and ordering Luyuan Ecological Company to bear 20% of the liability, compensating the two plaintiffs for more than 79,000 yuan and 170,000 yuan respectively.
After the first-instance judgment, the Longhudong Reservoir Management Office and Luyuan Ecological Company appealed to the Chenzhou Intermediate Court.
After trial, the Chenzhou Intermediate People's Court held that the Chang'an Reservoir is a naturally formed reservoir that has not been opened to the public to operate the water surface and has a public welfare nature, and the establishment of warning signs in the key areas of the Longhudong Reservoir Management Has fulfilled the safety warning obligation in the public sense; the real estate development and operation of Luyuan Ecological Company a few hundred meters behind the reservoir reservoir is a normal commercial behavior and should be protected according to law.
The Chenzhou Intermediate People's Court held that the accident was an accident, and that neither the reservoir management office nor the developer was at fault, so it revoked the judgment of the court of first instance and rejected the litigation claims of the family of the deceased.
After the second-instance judgment, the family of the deceased filed a complaint and applied to the Hunan Higher People's Court for a retrial.
In August 2021, the Hunan Higher People's Court opened a case for review. After that, Hunan Higher People's Court judge Chen Anran and others went to Rucheng County to investigate and organize all parties involved in the case to mediate.
According to Liu Kai, the lawyer representing the plaintiff in this case, in September and November 2021, the Longhudong Reservoir Management Office of Rucheng County and the Chenzhou Luyuan Eco-tourism Industry Development Company reached an agreement with the family of the deceased to pay Xiao Zhu's family compensation of 102,000 yuan and Xiao He's family compensation of 140,000 yuan. In addition, the family of the deceased applied to the relevant authorities for judicial assistance.
After reaching a settlement agreement, the families of the two deceased submitted an application to the Hunan Higher People's Court to withdraw the retrial. In September and November 2021, the Hunan Higher People's Court ruled separately allowing the family of the deceased to withdraw their application for retrial.
On January 8, 2022, the families of the two girls came to Changsha with pennants. They said that in the process of handling this case, the judges, lawyers and staff of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission have all done a lot of work, and they are grateful from the bottom of their hearts. After receiving the pennant, Judge Chen Anran of the Hunan Higher People's Court and Liu Kai, the lawyer representing him, comforted the family members of the deceased to cheer up and "live a good life" from now on.
Editor-in-Charge: Cui Xuan Photo Editor: Shi Jiahui
Proofreader: Liu Wei