Secret cremation of dead miner in Beijing exposed
- Source: Global Times
- [02:56 October 23 2009]
- Comments
By Wen Tao
Shang Chunsheng, a 46-year-old man from Inner Mongolia, was killed in a mine accident in Fangshan district, Beijing on October 12, the mine owner secretly cremated his body while his family received 400,000 yuan ($58,565) compensation, an undercover reporter from the Beijing News witnessed the cremation.
According to the newspaper's report, around 4 o'clock in the morning of October 12, the illegal mine at Shijiaying, Fangshan, collapsed, Shang was buried. Four hours later Shang was dug out by his fellow workers. The boss of the mine immediately transported the corpse to an unknown place.
A miner who called himself "Da Jun" said, they could earn 200 yuan ($29.3) a day in those illegal coal mines, and he has worked in this area for 10 years. "This is all too common here. When you get a call early in the morning, it always means someone is dead," he said.
Shang's widow, Zhang Hua, rushed to Beijing on the same day. On the morning of October 13, three negotiators representing the mine owner showed up. One of them was the brother of the boss. They told the widow that the boss had run away due to his fears of police action.
Shang's son, Xiaoli, asked for one million yuan, which was turned down by negotiators. There then ensued long hours of negotiations. Finally a deal for 400,000 yuan compensation was reached, on the condition that if the mine owner was arrested, the family would not get a penny.
Relatives urged the three men to take them to the body. The latter drove them to some bushes in a suburb of Yixian county, Hebei Province, where they had buried the body. Whilst in the ambulance, relatives confirmed that the body, whose face was still covered in soot, was Shang Chunsheng.
The family, including Zhang, the son and a relative named Liu Qing were only allowed to stay with the body for several minutes. Liu overheard the negotiators tell the driver to get the "death certificate" as soon as possible. The body was taken to a nearby crematorium and immediately cremated. Zhang, as requested, handed over her SIM card and a written guarantee promising she would not go back on her word.
The press office of the Fangshan district government said on Thursday that heads of relevant departments were holding an emergency meeting on the accident. "We will release a notice tomorrow," said a spokesman.
Fangshan police said they had looked into the case, but refused to reveal where the mine owner was, and the reason given was the case is still under investigation.
Huang Changyong, a lawyer at the Beijing Zhongtong Law Firm, said that the mine owner will be sentenced to up to three years in prison.
"In this case, the circumstances are serious, such as covering-up the accident and transferring and hiding the body," Huang said.
The compensation will not make a difference to criminal charges the mine owner is facing. It is civil liability. In practice, each death should be compensated with no less than 200,000 yuan ($29,283), according to a Shanxi provincial regulation, which also generally applies to the nation.
Huang also said according to the law, compensation to the family was secure despite Zhang's written promise.
