According to CCTV news, at around 2:30 p.m. on April 13, a boat overturned in Taolinkou Village, Liujiaying Township, Lulong County, Qinhuangdao City, causing people to fall overboard. The accident caused 31 tourists to fall into the water, of which 12 died after rescue efforts failed, 10 were treated in the hospital without life-threatening injuries, and 9 people have returned home safely.
The accident boat floated in the middle of the river (photo by Jimu News reporter)
On the afternoon of the 14th, the Jimu News reporter saw in Taolinkou Village that the Qinglong River passed through the village, the water flow was calm, the Qinglong River was a mountain on one side, and the embankment and farmland on the other side.
A villager told reporters that there is a dam near the entrance of the village, and the upstream of the dam is a reservoir, and in the early years, there were tourists who took a boat here to play, but later because of the protection of the water source, the upstream was not allowed to take a boat, and the boats went to the bottom of the embankment, and the place where the accident occurred was not far from the bottom of the embankment.
Another villager said that on the 13th, the water level was four or five meters deep at its deepest point, and there was a strong wind that day.
The reporter saw at the embankment that there were more than one meter high guardrails on both sides of the water area on the embankment, and below the dam body was an open area, the water level was low, and the banks on both sides were exposed with large stones. There are also a number of warning signs not far from the dam, which read, "Water sources are heavy, please do not approach" and "The dam slope is dangerous, no climbing".
There is a warning sign under the dam (photo by Jimu News reporter)
The position of the overturned ship was more than a hundred meters away from the embankment. The reporter saw that the whole boat was upside down in the river, revealing the green bottom of the boat, and there was a red plastic bench on the shore not far away.
The boat parked on the shore (photo by Jimu News reporter)
The reporter saw that there were more than 20 boats parked on the shore from the boat involved to the embankment, and some of them were stacked with red plastic stools.
After the accident, 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.
Guardrails and warnings on the upstream shore of the dam (photo by Jimu News reporter)
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 present, the shipowner and relevant responsible personnel have been controlled by the public security organs.
The driver of the accident boat was employed by the owner
On the 14th, a Jimu News reporter came to the vicinity of the incident in Taolinkou Village. According to some villagers, the shipwrecks of the accident boat were hired by the shipowner. After the incident, the owners of the boats in the village stopped their business.
In the afternoon, a Jimu News reporter came to Taolinkou Village and saw that the incident occurred downstream of an interception dam. According to a number of villagers, the owner of the accident boat was a villager from Taolinkou Village, who hired a boatman to drive the boat.
"The boatman is in his thirties and has been arrested. Some villagers said that there are many such boats in the village, and they all belong to the villagers. On the basis of boat tours, there are also villagers who have opened farmhouses in the village.
"If you eat at the farmhouse, you can take this boat for free, otherwise you have to pay 5 to 10 yuan for the ticket. Ms. Mo (pseudonym), a villager, said that this cruise ship project has been in the village for many years, and in the first few years, the cruise ship project was upstream of the interception dam, and later due to water source protection, the cruise ship project was transferred to the downstream of the interception dam.
The left is the iron boat, and the right is the "bamboo raft boat" (photo by Jimu News reporter)
After the incident, Taolinkou Village, which has a farmhouse and boat owner, suspended business. "I'm not in the mood to cook now, so I don't open it. A farmhouse owner said it was unclear when it would reopen.
Some boat owners make a lot of money a day during the peak tourist season, and frankly admit that they did not pay attention to safety before
The Jimu News reporter noticed that starting downstream from the interception dam, more than 20 cruise ships could be seen docking on the shore along the road. There are two main types of pleasure boats, one is a boat that imitates the shape of a bamboo raft with a simple canopy on board, and the other is a tin boat.
According to a local boat owner, Mr. Wu (pseudonym), in general, boatmen take tourists from the dam to a bridge downstream and return. A faster boat can make a round trip in about 15 minutes, while a slower boat can take 20 to 30 minutes to make a round trip.
The boat parked on the shore (photo by Jimu News reporter)
Mr. Wu's boat is a "bamboo raft boat", 15 meters long, the hull is made of 11 thick pipes to form a bamboo raft shape, has an engine, and spent 15,000 yuan when buying the boat. He usually carries about 15 passengers, and the boat business in the village has been transferred from the upper reaches of the embankment to the lower reaches of the embankment for so many years, and his boat has not had an accident.
"My kind of boat is simple to drive and relatively stable, unlike the iron boat that had an accident this time, when the wind blows, it is dangerous for tourists to move. Mr. Wu said that he had been buying the boat for many years, and his cruise business had been stopped for a long time due to health and family reasons. Because the canopy of the boat had been blown crooked by the strong wind before, and affected by this accident, he was not ready to ask for this boat.
"In fact, it is the peak season for cruises, and many tourists from Tangshan and other places come every day, and some boat owners can make a lot of money in a good day. Mr. Wu said that because he felt that the bamboo raft boat was relatively stable and everyone had been safe for many years, everyone did not pay much attention to the life jacket. Now they don't know what the government will do with these boats in the village. "If you let it be demolished, it will be demolished. He said.
Source: Jimu News