Owner of confiscated truck kills himself
Print Edition
A TRUCK owner committed suicide on Monday after authorities in central China’s Henan Province refused to return his vehicle, which had been impounded for carrying an illegally heavy load.
Zhang Gaoxing and his wife Hou Yan went to the highway checking station in Minquan County to appeal for the return of the vehicle claiming they were unable to pay the 30,000 yuan (US$4,900) fine outstanding on it, the county government said in a statement yesterday.
The truck had been seized a week earlier by police after its driver, Li Honglei, tried to evade a weight check at the station. Officials found the vehicle was carrying more than 114 tons, though the legal limit is 55 tons.
Li did not contest the findings and left the station without the vehicle after signing his name and leaving his fingerprints, it said.
When Zhang tried to reclaim the truck he was told he would have to pay the fine. He said he was unable to do so, but his appeal fell on deaf ears.
On Monday, Zhang and his wife returned to the station. When their appeal was again denied, the couple took out a bottle of pesticide and drank it, the statement said.
Zhang died later in hospital, but Hou survived and is out of danger, it said.
Zhang’s family was quoted as saying by the Southern Metropolis Daily that the couple had raised 400,000 yuan to buy the truck last year. It was their only source of income.
“They became depressed because they had no way of making money, or paying their bills,” an unnamed family member said.
Authorities have begun an investigation into the way local officials handled the case. Under the law, people found guilty of overloading a vehicle can be fined up to 30,000 yuan.
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