According to the report of the People's Government of Lulong County, Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province: At about 14:30 on April 13, 2024, a boat overturned in Taolinkou Village, Liujiaying Township, Lulong County, Qinhuangdao City, causing people to fall into the water.
The reporter learned that after on-site search and rescue and preliminary verification, the accident caused 31 tourists to fall into the water, all of whom have been found and sent to the hospital, of which 12 people died after rescue, 10 people were treated in the hospital without danger of life, and 9 people have returned home safely.
After the accident, the local emergency, fire, water, health, public security and other departments immediately rushed to the scene to carry out search and rescue, medical treatment and other work. The fire rescue team dispatched 31 fire trucks, 144 commanders and fighters, 4 assault boats and 13 rubber boats to the scene. Hebei Province set up an accident investigation team to investigate and determine the cause, nature and responsibility of the accident. The Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision has launched relevant accountability work.
After a preliminary investigation, on April 13, 155 tourists from Tangshan City took three buses organized by a travel agency to have lunch near Taolinkou Village, and 31 of them went to the waters of the Qinglong River downstream of the Taolinkou Reservoir and overturned and fell into the water while taking an illegally operated sightseeing boat.
At about 14:30 on the 13th, in the downstream river of Taolin Reservoir, it overturned due to windy weather, and the people who fell into the water were tourists, most of whom were elderly and did not wear life jackets.
At present, the shipowner and relevant responsible personnel have been controlled by the public security organs.
Video from tourists shows no one wearing a life jacket and a lack of safety measures on the boat
Last night, the reporter contacted a Ms. Liu (pseudonym) who was playing in Taolinkou Village that day, and she witnessed the rescue situation at the scene after the accident. "We are a tour group from Tangshan, but it is impossible to confirm whether the boat that overturned is a Tangshan tourist. In the afternoon, I got on the boat and went to the other side, and when I was waiting for the boat to return, I heard that a boat capsized. Ms. Liu said.
When the bus returned to the boarding site, there were already rescuers, and Ms. Liu saw with her own eyes that some of the rescued tourists had no vital signs. She told reporters that there were no safety measures on board, and "none of us (on the boat) were wearing life jackets, and we were very scared in hindsight."
The reporter searched on the short video platform and found that many tourists played in Taolinkou on the same day. A video of a tourist showed nearly 20 people sitting on one of the boats, all sitting on plastic benches, and no one wearing life jackets. On the other small boat on the shore, a total of 8 people, including the boatman, were also not wearing life jackets.
Videos taken by some of the tourists show that not only are no one wearing life jackets, but there are also meals on board
The video shows a large number of tourists taking pictures on the yellow rocks on the shore, and some tourists are standing on a high place to take pictures of the Taolinkou Reservoir. There are warning signs erected on the rocks, but there are no railings to block them. There is also a video taken by the tourists who boarded the boat showing that there was an "iron pot" on the boat and the tourists were eating. Some netizens commented on the short video platform: "We were going to take a boat, but we missed the time of the accident because we took the wrong road, and we are afraid to think about it." The reporter tried to contact the tourist, but there was no response by press time.
Village manager: At that time, there was a sudden strong wind, and the tourists panicked and the boat capsized
A local resident told reporters that the boat resembling a raft in the accident used to sit in the second grade of primary school, and he charged dozens of yuan for 10 minutes on the water, "according to the regulations, only 10 people can be seated."
A netizen who had visited the site of the incident told reporters that there was a small dam in the waters near the place of the incident, and tourists took a boat from the village to the dam to play, and then took a boat from the dam back to the shore.
According to a person in charge of Taolinkou Village, the owner of the boat is from this village, "His family is only this boat, and the person who drives the boat is hired by him, and he is also a villager in this village." The person in charge said that the wind suddenly blew at that time, the wind was too strong, and the tourists panicked and caused the boat to capsize.
An eyewitness at the scene also said that he was fishing on the shore at the time of the incident when a strong wind suddenly picked up.
The personnel on duty of the Liujiaying Township Government said that at present, the township has sent 40 or 50 staff members to the scene to participate in the rescue, and the township government office has not yet received the identity information of the victims and the specific information of the ship involved.
The staff on duty of the Lulong County Bureau of Culture and Tourism said that the relevant leaders of the bureau had rushed to the vicinity of the incident to assist in the search and rescue and disposal work, and initially understood that the boat had overturned in the Qinglong River near Taolinkou Village. Taolinkou does not belong to the A-level scenic spot, "the place where the incident occurred is not in the reservoir area of Taolinkou Reservoir, the reservoir belongs to the water source protection area, and now tourists are not allowed to enter." As for the specific cause of the ship's overturning, the staff member said that the relevant situation is subject to the follow-up official report.
(Synthesized from CCTV News, CCTV Network, Jimu News, Red Star News, China Emergency Management News, Lulong County People's Government Portal, etc.)
Source: The Paper WeChat public account
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