Lessons learned from Lantern Festival tragedy
Yan Xizao  Updated: 2004-02-07 09:05

No tragedy could be more tragic than losing loved ones on a day supposed to represent togetherness.

Such calamity struck dozens of Beijing families Thursday night when 37 lives were lost during a lantern and fireworks display in Miyun County in suburban Beijing.

In Chinese tradition, the 15th day of the first lunar month is known as the Lantern Festival and is a time for family reunions. Eating sweet dumplings, as well as appreciating lanterns and fireworks, remains the most authentic rituals for the occasion.

Thursday should have been a celebration of joy and happiness for all in the Year of the Monkey.

But when one person slipped and fell on a narrow metal bridge packed with spectators, a joyous crowd turned into a dangerous mob. As some onlookers fell like dominoes, witnesses say, the throng stampeded.

The accident killed at least 37 and injured more than 20, mostly women and children.

For those who unfortunately lost a mother, a wife, a daughter, a young son, a friend, or anyone they held dear on that black Thursday, sweet dumplings on every Lantern Festival thereafter will be a bitter reminder of the havoc.

The dead cannot come back to life, no matter what we do.

Authorities have an obligation to do the best they can to assuage the pain the disaster has inflicted upon the unfortunate families.

There is little doubt about their ability to present a reasonable account of the accident through investigation. There is even less doubt about the need for an acceptable compensation package, especially when taking into consideration President Hu Jintao's personal request for a satisfactory solution.

More important, however, is that all should learn from what has happened.

The debacle appeared to be a pure accident which arose out of nowhere. Had that poor reveler not slipped and fallen, had those onlookers not fallen in the confusion, or had the crowd not stampeded, there might have been no deaths or injuries at all.

Had there been proper precautions, like controlling the human flow over that bridge, the scenario might have been quite different.

Organizers should have anticipated the potential dangers in an unmanaged crowd and taken appropriate actions.

In a country so populous as ours, crowds cannot be avoided. For this reason alone, those paid to take care of public order should learn and do more about crowd management.

It would not be fair, however, to consign everything involving public order to outsiders.

There is no guarantee the misfortune will not repeat itself unless everyone learns something from the tragedy.

It may sound mean to lay any blame on those in the crowd Thursday night. Nobody should be faulted for simply being there.

But before lining up in an orderly manner becomes part of this nation's collective awareness, we need to remember we are putting ourselves in harm's way whenever we join a disorderly mob.

For our own safety's sake, we should choose our crowds wisely.

(China Daily)

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