BEIJING (Web Desk) – A family of seven drowned in a doomed attempt to rescue their daughter from a reservoir after they all fell in while forming a human chain to pull her out.
Tragedy struck while the family – four adults and three teenage children – were visiting a grave at a nearby cemetery in the city of Shantou in southern China’s Guangdong province.
One of the children, a 17-year-old girl, decided to wash her hands in the reservoir, but toppled in.
The rest of her family made a desperate bid pull her from the water by forming a human chain despite none of them being able to swim.
‘Medics who later arrived at the scene could only confirm the deaths of all those involved.
‘In the end, the teenage girl and her two younger siblings, a boy aged 15 and a girl of 13, as well as her parents and aunt and uncle all died.’
Officials responsible for the area where the reservoir is located pledged a full enquiry into the tragic incident to see what could be done to prevent something similar happening again.
The family had been visiting the grave as part of Tomb-Sweeping Day, a traditional Chinese festival where the living are expected to pay their respects to their ancestors by visiting their tombs.
