Young lives snuffed out by tragic circumstance

By Liang Yiwen  |   2008-11-19  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

THE four victims of Friday's fire at Shanghai Business School were excellent students, administrative officials said yesterday. The following are brief biographies of each victim.

Chen Rui

Chen Rui, 19, from Sichuan Province, was a versatile young woman and a good singer and dancer, her parents said.

Chen's mother said that her daughter had sent her a short message from her cell phone on the day before her death to inform her that she would soon begin an internship, and she couldn't believe Chen left her in this way.

The mother said Chen's grandmothers were not told of the death for fear they couldn't cope with it emotionally.

The news of Chen's death has prompted an outpouring of grief in her hometown, Yibin City.

Sichuan media have carried reports of the Shanghai fire tragedy, and people have launched commemorative activities on local Websites.

Chen had planned to apply for a master's degree at another university after graduation from the Shanghai college and had promised to bring her parents here to see the city.

Her parents said their daughter was very independent.

Liu Wenwen

Liu Wenwen, 21, from Jiangsu Province, was the director of the Study Department of the school's Student Union and was supposed to join the Communist Party of China this week.

Liu's mother had to be taken to a hospital after receiving news of her daughter's death, and her father cries every time he sees his daughter's friends and classmates.

A junior student at the school said that he had lost his USB disk in a classroom and the clever Liu found him through clues on the disk. They chatted often on the Internet and became good friends.

"She was open-minded and maintained good relations with almost all the students around her," said Pei Qinruo, a sophomore at the college.