The head of the village committee, Xiao Yongguo (second from the left), was rescuing the two buried sisters.
The villagers carried Cao Xiaorong on a stretcher to send her to the hospital for treatment. Photo by netizens.
Cao Xiaorong (left) and Cao Shiqun (right) were rescued from the mud.
Yesterday, a netizen posted online, "On the afternoon of the 23rd, a live burial took place in Fengjie County." At around 3 PM on November 23, in Haijiao Village, Anping Town, Fengjie County, a surnamed Li villager disregarded the advice of onlookers and the village party secretary and forcibly dumped soil, burying two female villagers surnamed Cao alive. After the incident, Li fled the scene by car. The netizen also uploaded several photos of the scene where the villagers were buried as evidence. Such brutal behavior has been severely condemned by netizens who replied to the post. Was it an intentional burial or an "accident"? Reporters investigated the matter yesterday.
Dumping soil buried two sisters alive
The village party secretary of Haizhao Village, Jiang Jiashu, told reporters that recently the village had been dealing with river embankments, and Li Jianping's job was to drive the excavated soil to an open area for stacking. "The location chosen by Li Jianping for stacking soil was exactly next to the farmland of the Cao sisters. Upon hearing the news, Cao Shiqun and Cao Xiaorong strongly prevented Li from dumping soil there. I kept shouting 'Don't dump, there are people behind,' but it seemed like Li Jianping didn't hear me, and the soil that fell from the truck buried these two sisters."
Jiang Jiashu said that the two buried individuals, Cao Xiaorong, only had her legs buried, while her sister Cao Shiqun was more severely injured with more parts of her body buried. Currently, both injured parties are receiving treatment at the People's Hospital of Fengjie County.
The perpetrator "has a bad temper"
The head of the Haizhao Village Committee, Xiao Yongguo, stated that the place where Li Jianping dumped the soil was not technically illegal, "Since the dam is relatively wide, some households have leveled the dam themselves and started growing crops and building houses. After the accident, we will quickly reclaim the dam section."
Regarding Li Jianping himself, Xiao Yongguo commented, "He has a rather irritable temper, but usually gets along harmoniously with colleagues on the construction site." The village party secretary of Haizhao Village, Jiang Jiashu, then said, "The perpetrator, Li Jianping, is 41 years old and served 10 years in prison at the age of 19. This person indeed has a bad character and likes to cause trouble."
Eyewitness: He stabbed an elder with an iron rod
A surnamed Huang villager from Haizhao Village told reporters yesterday, "Before dumping the soil, Li Jianping saw someone blocking him behind the car and loudly said, 'What’s the big deal if I kill you and serve a few years in jail.' Then, all the soil from the truck poured onto the two Cao sisters." Huang said that upon seeing his daughters buried, their father went forward to reason with him, and unexpectedly, Li Jianping took out an iron rod from the car and stabbed the elder in the chest before driving away. "At that time, Cao Shiqun was buried so much that only her head was exposed, and there were two or three larger rocks pressing on her body."
Subsequently, reporters interviewed several other eyewitnesses, who all confirmed Huang's account. Yesterday afternoon, reporters contacted Li Jianping's wife, Ms. Chen, who claimed she wasn't at the scene and did not know the situation.
Injured person suffered multiple fractures, difficulty speaking
Dr. Ye Zihong from the First Department of Surgery at Fengjie County People's Hospital is Cao Shiqun's attending physician. He told reporters that when the patient arrived, she could not walk independently and was pushed into the examination room. Her limbs were bruised in multiple places, and she looked painful. Dr. Ye said that currently, Cao Shiqun is conscious, but her mental state is poor. A preliminary diagnosis revealed multiple soft tissue injuries, "I haven’t seen the diagnostic report yet, so I can't determine other conditions temporarily."
"My wife can't move in bed, and she has difficulty speaking; I have to carry her to the restroom," Cao Shiqun's husband, Jiang Xuesheng, told reporters that currently, the Cao sisters and their father are all receiving treatment at the People's Hospital of Fengjie County, but Cao Shiqun's condition is the most severe. Jiang Xuesheng said that now Cao Shiqun's condition is very bad, and she has difficulty speaking. Since entering the hospital at around 6 PM on the 23rd, she hasn't eaten anything, only drinking a little water.
By the time reporters filed this story, Cao Shiqun's CT diagnostic report had already been delivered to the family members. On the report, it showed: 1. Fractures of the right transverse processes of L1, L2, and L3 vertebrae; 2. Irregular shape of the right transverse process of L4 vertebra, awaiting further imaging confirmation for fracture; 3. Old crack of the left lamina of L5 vertebra.
Perpetrator arrested early yesterday morning
"One side wanted to dump soil, and the other side forcibly stopped them, resulting in the side wanting to dump soil insisting on doing so, leading to the accident," said Chief Liu of the Anping Town Police Station in Fengjie County yesterday. Around 2 AM on November 24, the police captured Li Jianping at his home and immediately recorded his confession and collected materials. Currently, Li Jianping is under administrative detention, awaiting police investigation and evidence collection. Chief Liu indicated that they are waiting for the hospital to assess the severity of the victims' injuries, after which the police will take further action based on the injury assessment.
Yesterday afternoon, reporters called Anping Town Mayor Yu Li, who was investigating the matter in Haizhao Village. He told reporters that from the current understanding, this incident appears to be quite serious. Once the facts are verified, it is believed that the perpetrator will be dealt with promptly.
Netizens' voices
"Willow Fluff Yangfeng": Such a bully, the Fengjie County Public Security Bureau won't let it go unnoticed.
"Zimiao": Villagers should unite, strength in numbers.
"Building the Great Wall": Too exaggerated, how could he just bury people without any reason? Even if unreasonable, basic legal knowledge should still exist.
"Haihai's Star": This kind of person deserves severe punishment! Reporter Wang Luyao, Intern Li Zuoting