Ruthless & Shameful? 42-Second Video Shows Man Burnt to Death

2016/04/19

Zhang Qianran

Program Code: 0909346160505016 Source: Miaopai

A 42-second video showing a trapped man trying to escape a fire hit the headlines recently.

In the video, the roaring flame cornered the man near a window, with thick smoke billowing out.

The man tried to get out but was trapped by the window's guard rails.

He can be heard crying for help. He also stretched his legs out of the guardrails, but eventually the fire swallowed him.

According to police, the fire broke out at about 4pm on April 14 at a 5th-floor apartment of a residential building in Huadu District, Guangzhou City.

In the fire, the owner of the apartment, surnamed Li, lost his life.

Li was also the arsonist who set off the fire, police said.

On April 15, Guangdong Fire Bureau issued several Weibo posts, condemning the person who shot the video.

Condemnable. Shameful. We couldn't think of any words to describe the person who took such a ruthless video. We don't expect you to be a superman flying over there to rescue the victim. But during those 42 seconds when the man was crying desperately for help, how could you hold your mobile phone so steadily!

The Fire Bureau also wrote posts telling netizens how to respond in an emergency such as a fire.

The bureau also cited the example of the famous award-winning picture, in which a vulture is waiting for a girl to die and to eat her in Sudan.

The photograph was taken by South African photojournalist, Kevin Carter, who late committed suicide due to depression.

Later, local reporter reached the video taker, a man also surnamed Li, who lives in a building opposite to the victim's.

Li told reporters that he could do nothing to douse the fire as he was far away from the victim. Since, he couldn't break the iron guardrails to save the victim, he chose to shoot the video.

After he took the video, he posted it on a WeChat group where most of the members are his classmates.

He commented below:

Life is so fragile. I wanted to save him, but I had no means. He was burnt to death.

The video spread quickly and Li faced severe criticism from many netizens.

One netizen commented:

How can he hold the phone so steadily for 42 seconds, while witnessing the victim crying for help? An utter lack of humanity!

Others defended Li:

Li was not a professional firefighter, he shouldn't be blamed for not saving the victim. It was none of his business. He should be concerned about his own safety primarily, which is justifiable.

Li told reporters that currently he was worried most about his family.

I'm not sure whether it was wrong of me to take the video, or post it on WeChat. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe not. Maybe I would have been a hero if I went to save him. Maybe I would have injured myself in doing so.

Despite that he had been living and working in Guangdong for 10 years, Li said he was even thinking of leaving the city because the flood of criticism almost overwhelmed him and his family.

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Ruthless & Shameful? 42-Second Video Shows Man Burnt to Death

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