Chen Amou said that when they saw the herbs by the wellhead, everyone had a foreboding feeling.
Reported by this newspaper's reporter Mingsheng Liao with text and photos
According to reports, the 3-year-old great-grandson of an 89-year-old Huang grandmother from Jiaotang Village in Jiamei Town, Longhai City, was slightly overheated, so she went out alone to gather medicinal herbs. However, after two hours, she still hadn't returned. When her family finally found her in an abandoned well, she had already stopped breathing. The family believed that the owner of the abandoned well should bear some responsibility for not covering the well or placing warning signs. Yet, even as the elderly woman was laid to rest the next day, both parties were still unable to reach an agreement.
The elderly woman went out to gather herbs and disappeared for two hours
Grandma Huang lived with her second daughter's family. Although she was already 89 years old, her legs were still relatively agile. Her son-in-law, Chen Amou, said that because the 3-year-old great-grandson was a bit overheated, around 2 p.m. on March 28, the elderly woman took a kitchen knife and went out to gather herbs. "She really loves this great-grandson and knows some herbal medicine, so she often digs around the village," he said.
However, after two hours had passed, Chen Amou still didn't see his mother-in-law return home, so he called a few people to go out and look for her. But despite searching both inside and outside the village, they couldn't find any trace of her. Finally, a neighbor told Chen Amou that several hours earlier, he had passed by an abandoned well in the village and heard some sounds, but it was too dark inside to see anyone.
The family quickly rushed to the abandoned well, and upon seeing some herbs by the wellhead, they had an ominous premonition. "The area around the well is covered with weeds, making it hard to notice the wellhead unless you're paying attention. Moreover, there's a lot of water inside," Chen Amou said. When the elderly woman was pulled up, she was ice-cold and had already stopped breathing.
Family members said they want to sue the owner of the abandoned well
The abandoned well is about 200 meters away from Grandma Huang's house. Chen Amou said that the well is approximately 3 meters deep, with 2 meters of water. The family all believed that before the incident, the owner of the abandoned well did not cover it properly or place warning signs nearby, and therefore should bear responsibility. After the incident, the family sought police assistance, but the police suggested that both parties mediate themselves.
Chen Amou said that they had approached the owner of the abandoned well several times, but to no avail, so they intended to take the matter to court to seek compensation.
Upon investigation, it was learned that the abandoned well was dug over ten years ago by three people from Dongmei Village next to Jiaotang Village, mainly for irrigating the nearby mushroom houses. It has been unused for two or three years.
One of the shareholders of the abandoned well, Mr. Wang, said that when it was first abandoned, they had sealed the wellhead with a cement slab, but later, it was removed by someone unknown. Afterwards, the area around the well grew full of weeds, and they didn't notice the wellhead. Two days after the incident, they moved some bricks and boards to cover the abandoned well again. "We didn't want such an event to happen either. The issue of compensation is difficult to discuss. Ideally, the village could help mediate," Mr. Wang said.