$143,000 compensation agreed for woman's death

The family of the woman who died after falling into a hot water pool in Beijing will get 900,000 yuan ($142,830) in compensation from responsible departments, according to the Mirror Evening News.

The woman's relatives came to a branch of the municipal public security bureau in Xicheng district on April 23 and made a compensation agreement with Beijing District Heating Group, Wuhua Mansion's property management department and its developers, the report said.

One of the victim's relatives said the sum paid by the three responsible parties will include death compensation and funeral expenses, the report said.

However, responsible officials from the heating group, the mansion's developer and its property management department refused to give more details about the compensation when contacted by China Daily.

Yang Erjing, 27, a clothing manager and mother of a 7-month child, fell into boiling water leaking from broken underground pipes as a section of pavement collapsed on Beilishi Road, near the mansion, in the capital's Xicheng district, on April 1.

She died after suffering burns to more than 99 percent of her body on April 9.

According to an investigation by the district's government, corroded and broken underground pipes caused the accident. The report found that the heating group, the mansion's developers and the property management department were responsible as a result of their neglect.

Later, three people allegedly responsible for the woman's death were detained.

A similar case occurred in Dalian, in Northeast China's Liaoning province, on March 16.

Blinded by rain and vapor, a 28-year-old woman surnamed Wang stepped into an uncovered thermal well and died.

"Nearby residents testified that some taxi drivers often opened the manhole cover to steal water and clean their vehicles at midnight," Li Guolin, director of the general office of Dalian Thermal Power Group, told China Daily.

"Someone must have forgotten to put the cover back on, which led to the tragedy. But we could not dodge our responsibilities. After all, the well is under charge of our company," said Li.

Li said the company, after the accident, checked hidden risks of thermal wells. On those that could not be treated immediately, they welded a sheet of metal mesh under the cover as protection.

According to Li, Dalian Thermal Power Group and Wang's family reached an agreement on compensation three days after the accident. But he refused to reveal the amount, saying it was at the request of Wang's family.

"Nobody expected the tragedy. We gave enough compensation to cover the living expenses and possible tuition of Wang's 2-year-old daughter," he added.

As for the tragedies, Wang Xing, a Beijing-based lawyer from Hui Cheng Law Firm, said the negligence of the two cities' public departments should be blamed.

"After all, we can't always think such tragedies are coincidences or accidents," he said.