"Believe me, I can take you out"

NUR-SULTAN, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- If it were not for the unrest in Kazakhstan at the beginning of the year, Jiang Yaoping, an employee of a Chinese-funded enterprise working in Almaty, would have arrived in Fujian, China, to prepare for the Spring Festival with his family.

"I was going to fly back from Almaty Airport on the 5th, but no one expected that not only did I not succeed but also experienced a 'life and death escape.'" On the 18th, a week after the local riots subsided, when the reporter dialed Jiang Yaoping's phone, he told the reporter about his experience in the riots.

Almaty was the "eye of the storm" of the riots. Jiang Yaoping's Almaty office of China Power Construction International Corporation is responsible for the construction of the road project from Almaty to the capital Nur-Sultan, and Jiang Yaoping is mainly responsible for equipment procurement. Since starting his work in Kazakhstan in July 2018, he has only returned to China once.

The trip had been waiting for him for too long. On the same day, Jiang Yaoping packed up his things early and left for the airport several hours in advance. What he didn't expect, however, was that at the airport, he encountered a sudden riot.

"Not being afraid is a lie. Hundred and ten people with sticks smashed randomly in the airport lobby, and many people were injured as a result. He recalled to reporters that the scene was chaotic at that time, and the outside of the airport had been controlled by rioters. Jiang Yaoping contacted the company to evacuate the vehicle, and at the same time contacted the staff of the Consulate General in Almaty; while looking for a safe place to avoid danger. Along the way, he met more than a dozen Chinese, shouting for everyone to find a place to stay.

After several failed contacts, Jiang Yaoping finally connected the phone of the consular staff, who told him to pay attention to safety precautions and told him that he was trying to help him evacuate by all means. This made Jiang Yaoping feel at ease a lot.

"Danger is at hand, and several groups of rioters are appearing around. One of them tried to attack us, but was stopped by a local. The "locals" Jiang Yaoping refers to are Atheran, a villager who lives near the Almaty airport. On that day, the Atheran brothers happened to be running errands near the airport and found that "something was not quite right" and that "a lot of people and cars gathered at the airport." "In briefing reporters on the situation, Arthurran said that although I didn't know what happened at the time, I saw that the Chinese were dangerous and wanted to help them.

Arthur ran said to Jiang Yaoping, "As long as you believe in me, I can take you out." ”

Jiang Yaoping chose to believe. In this way, the two Atheran brothers "escorted" more than a dozen Chinese, including Jiang Yaoping, one by one, and evacuated from the airport path.

"It was a mess, we dragged our suitcases and walked for over 2 hours through muddy dirt roads and woods to get to the road. Jiang Yaoping said that fortunately, with the help of Arthur Ran, there was no property damage or casualties during the evacuation process.

Shortly after waiting on the road, The rescue vehicle of Jiang Yaoping's company arrived. He described to reporters, "Although the people who are traveling with us come from different places, most of them are not from our company, but in a critical situation, we must do our best to help more people." After two trips back, the vehicle finally took everyone to the company office and temporarily settled down.

The 37-year-old Arthur Ran told reporters that he had studied in Urumqi for half a year, and since then, he has had a good impression of China. "I like China, I feel Chinese kind, and I have been helped by many Chinese. I think that even if it weren't for me, there would be many Kazakhs like me who would be willing to help Chinese. (End)

Source: China News Network