Frustrated by the handling of their demands, relatives of victims of the Wenzhou disaster say they may have to resort to court action for justice
Shi Jiangtao in Beijing 01 August 2011
Families of the victims of the Wenzhou train crash said they might take the Ministry of Railways to court, as frustration and outrage rises over handling of their demands for the truth and compensation.
Amid mounting public pressure, the authorities almost doubled the compensation for crash victims on Friday to 915,000 yuan (HK$1.1 million), but many relatives said the revised offer was still not acceptable.
Relatives were further angered when rail authorities, through various local governments, allegedly tried to coerce them to accept the compensation offer.
“We have discussed the new offer with several other families of the victims and we still don’t think the compensation is reasonable or appropriate,” the wife of Hu Weipeng, a 33-year-old victim from Fuzhou, Fujian province, said.
“My husband was at a prime age both physically and career-wise and was the backbone of my family.”
She said the offer did not differentiate between victims who were at their physical peak and had a family to feed, and others who were either children or seniors.
She also said the offer, nearly double the original 500,000 yuan, was still low compared with payouts to the relatives of plane crash victims. Compensation for each family was 960,000 yuan after a plane crash in Yichun, Heilongjiang province last year.
At least 40 people were killed and about 200 injured in the train crash.
According to Hu’s wife and relatives of several other victims, rail authorities bluntly rejected their demands and harassed the families that rejected the offer.
“Instead of heeding our concerns, they have urged our colleagues and bosses and even local governments from where we live to intervene ... to force us to come to terms with their offer,” a relative said. “It is really disgusting.”
The cousin of another victim said he was completely disappointed by the railway ministry’s handling of the disaster and its aftermath.
“We just had a call from rail authorities and they said bluntly that the new offer was not negotiable and we had no option but to accept it,” he said.
He said his family simply wanted to have the body of his cousin back to hold a proper funeral.
“But the authorities said no because we have not signed the compensation deal,” he said. “We won’t even consider the compensation offer until our basic demands are met and justice is done.”
More than a dozen families of the victims have accepted the revised payouts, according to Xinhua.
The ministry denied claims that there was a deadline for families to accept the offer.
Relatives said they would consider taking the ministry to court if the authorities continued to “dodge the truth” about the disaster and avoid responsibility.
The younger brother of 40-year-old victim Lin Xiao said: “We will have to keep the litigation option as our last resort because we can’t accept the ministry’s offer to settle the scandal in private.
“We may not be able to demand more compensation because Premier Wen Jiabao has already tried to intervene, but we cannot stop asking for justice.
“We have to find out who is really responsible for the crash, not just those scapegoats who take the blame for their superiors.”
But he urged relatives not to demonstrate or vent anger at rail authorities, pending an official investigation. “Premier Wen has given us his word about a full, transparent probe. We should be patient to wait and see if that commitment can be realised,” he said.
1 comment:
Families may sue railways ministry
Frustrated by the handling of their demands, relatives of victims of the Wenzhou disaster say they may have to resort to court action for justice
Shi Jiangtao in Beijing
01 August 2011
Families of the victims of the Wenzhou train crash said they might take the Ministry of Railways to court, as frustration and outrage rises over handling of their demands for the truth and compensation.
Amid mounting public pressure, the authorities almost doubled the compensation for crash victims on Friday to 915,000 yuan (HK$1.1 million), but many relatives said the revised offer was still not acceptable.
Relatives were further angered when rail authorities, through various local governments, allegedly tried to coerce them to accept the compensation offer.
“We have discussed the new offer with several other families of the victims and we still don’t think the compensation is reasonable or appropriate,” the wife of Hu Weipeng, a 33-year-old victim from Fuzhou, Fujian province, said.
“My husband was at a prime age both physically and career-wise and was the backbone of my family.”
She said the offer did not differentiate between victims who were at their physical peak and had a family to feed, and others who were either children or seniors.
She also said the offer, nearly double the original 500,000 yuan, was still low compared with payouts to the relatives of plane crash victims. Compensation for each family was 960,000 yuan after a plane crash in Yichun, Heilongjiang province last year.
At least 40 people were killed and about 200 injured in the train crash.
According to Hu’s wife and relatives of several other victims, rail authorities bluntly rejected their demands and harassed the families that rejected the offer.
“Instead of heeding our concerns, they have urged our colleagues and bosses and even local governments from where we live to intervene ... to force us to come to terms with their offer,” a relative said. “It is really disgusting.”
The cousin of another victim said he was completely disappointed by the railway ministry’s handling of the disaster and its aftermath.
“We just had a call from rail authorities and they said bluntly that the new offer was not negotiable and we had no option but to accept it,” he said.
He said his family simply wanted to have the body of his cousin back to hold a proper funeral.
“But the authorities said no because we have not signed the compensation deal,” he said. “We won’t even consider the compensation offer until our basic demands are met and justice is done.”
More than a dozen families of the victims have accepted the revised payouts, according to Xinhua.
The ministry denied claims that there was a deadline for families to accept the offer.
Relatives said they would consider taking the ministry to court if the authorities continued to “dodge the truth” about the disaster and avoid responsibility.
The younger brother of 40-year-old victim Lin Xiao said: “We will have to keep the litigation option as our last resort because we can’t accept the ministry’s offer to settle the scandal in private.
“We may not be able to demand more compensation because Premier Wen Jiabao has already tried to intervene, but we cannot stop asking for justice.
“We have to find out who is really responsible for the crash, not just those scapegoats who take the blame for their superiors.”
But he urged relatives not to demonstrate or vent anger at rail authorities, pending an official investigation. “Premier Wen has given us his word about a full, transparent probe. We should be patient to wait and see if that commitment can be realised,” he said.
Post a Comment