The Shameful Tragedy of a Shameless "Olympic Host" -- Schools became
Killing fields of China's own children

Quake Victims' Parents Demand Answers for Ruined Schools

The Epoch Times
Jun 04, 2008

http://en.epochtimes.com/news_images/2008-6-4-parents81322263.jpg
A woman whose child was killed when the Xinjian primary school collapsed
in the May 12 earthquake is helped by relatives as she was overcome by
grief during a commemoration of Children's Day on the rubble-strewn
school campus on June 1, 2008 in Dujiangyan, Sichuan province, China.
(Andrew Wong/Getty Images)

Hundreds of parents commemorated the deaths of their children who had
been killed when last month's earthquake caused their school buildings
to collapse, and filed a collective complaint with a local court in
Sichuan Province, against the quality of the school buildings, widely
refer to in China as "tofu construction," as a result of incompetence or
corruption.

Asia Week reported on May 30 that half a month after the tragedy parents
have been building memorials and altars with their dead children's
pictures one after another on top of the wreckage of some collapsed
school buildings in the disaster areas.

In Mianzhu City, at 2:38 p.m. on May 19―the first day of the three-day
national mourning period, the parents whose children died at the Fuxin
No. 2 Promary School (formerly Wufu Primary School) were the first to
build memorials at the ruins of the school and sat quietly outside
holding their dead children's pictures.

In Dujiangyan City, on the third day of the national mourning, hundreds
of parents of the Juyuan Middle School and Xinjian Primary School
gathered outside of the schools demanding the authorities to thoroughly
investigate why so many school buildings were destroyed and which
government officials and building contractors are responsible.

Later, parents of the Dongqi Middle School in Hanwang Township of
Mianzhu and other collapsed schools did the same thing. One after
another, the situation developed like a spark causing a prairie fire.
With strong emotions from losing their children, the grieved parents
expressed their distrust of the authorities. The emotion spread and
affected many parents in northern and western Sichuan.

Although many municipal authorities have promised to form investigation
teams consisting of experts to discover the cause of the collapses,
nothing could calm the parents who had lost their only beloved ones.

Ms. Xiong Ying, representative for the parents of Wufu Primary School,
says that whenever she closes her eyes, she sees the image of her
daughter's face covered with brains.

"When the earthquake happened, none of my surrounding buildings had
collapsed. I thought my daughter would be fine. As a Kindergarten
teacher, I took my children out of the building at the first time of the
quake, so we didn't lose a single child during the earthquake. When I
walked to my daughter's school at 3 p.m., I fell to the ground as soon
as I saw the scene. How could this be? The entire school had collapsed,"
she said.

The reporter followed Ms. Xiong to the Wufu Primary School. After
passing many buildings that remain standing, scattered debris and ruins
of the former classrooms are encircled by undamaged buildings. Xiong
recalled that as she crawled through the rubble to her daughter, who was
still calling "Mom." Unfortunately, her daughter died three hours later.

At Dujiangyan's Juyuan Middle School, 400 out of 500 students were
killed in their new school building. At Dujiangyan's Xinjian Primary
School, 300 out of 400 students were killed. At Mianzhu's Wufu Primary
School, 127 out of 309 students were killed. In Hanwang's Wudu Education
Center School and Child Care Center, 300 out of 700 students were killed.

Buildings in all six schools in Dujiangyan had completely collapsed, but
nearby government buildings were all standing soundly.

According to official statistics, the earthquake had caused 6,800
classrooms to collapse in northern and western Sichuan. The number
provided by parents was even as high as 8,365. How many of these
classrooms were made of cheap, shoddy materials?

A foreign engineer volunteer named Abraham, questioned why these school
buildings acted like they did not have reinforced concrete frames. He
said that thickness of concrete should be used to fill in between
bricks, but wondered why the site was full of sand. He suspected it
might be poor binding, and wondered how the school buildings passed the
government's building inspections.

While being actively in contact with overseas media, parents like Xiong
Ying and Li Xiaobing, holding pictures of their dead children, were
marching to petition the township and municipal authorities to
investigate the quality of the school buildings, while swearing to
pursue justice.

They expressed their outrage, saying that if their children had been
killed in a natural disaster, the parents could accept their fate; but
if the calamity was man-made, they parent would find the truth.

In fact, what the Chinese regime is facing now, is no longer the 6,800
collapsed classrooms, but thousands of angry parents.