Society

Bodies of missing kids found in pond

By Li Xinzhu (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-02-23 06:49

Wang Aichun (left), the mother of four dead children, and Yang Lingli, the mother of the fifth, console each other yesterday after hearing of their children’s deaths in Tiantai county, Zhejiang province. [Wang Zhenyu]

SHANGHAI: The bodies of five children who went missing on Feb 18 in Tiantai county of Zhejiang province were found yesterday in a fish-farm pond near their homes.

Tiantai senior police officer Ding Huijuan confirmed the bodies were those of the children - three girls, Cai Kangni, 13; Cai Danni, 10; Cai Yani, 12; and two boys, Cai Binbin, 9; and Cai Songtao, 7.

Songtao was the cousin of the other four, who were siblings. Yani attended a local school while the other four studied in schools in Northwest China's Gansu province, where their parents work and had returned home for Spring Festival.

The children's parents reported them missing at 7 pm on the day they disappeared.

A Tiantai police team combed the area for five days, during which pictures of the missing children were also broadcast on television, published in newspapers and posted on the Internet. There was also a deluge of clues from concerned residents in the region through phone calls to the parents.

"We followed every lead," said Wang Aichun, the mother of four children.

A worker who was draining water from the pond reportedly found the first body at about noon. The other four were being recovered at about 6.30pm.

The pond is located at the foot of a mountain about 1km away from the home of the children.

File photo of the five dead children (from left): Cai Songtao, 7; Cai Binbin, 9; Cai Danni, 10; Cai Yani, 12; and Cai Kangni, 13.

Police said they did not have details on the cause of death and investigations are ongoing.

In a similar case, the bodies of four children who were reported missing on Feb 4 in Putian of Fujian province were found under a bridge on Feb 11. Police identified the cause of death as accidental drowning.

The country reports more than 200,000 cases of missing children each year and about 600,000 are still being investigated, Phoenix TV reported.