[Report: "Some 10,000 People Stormed a PLA Hospital for Refusing To Save a Dying Person and Clashed With Police, Resulting in 10 People Injured"]
According to information obtained by this centre, yesterday a retired soldier who had participated in the 12 May rescue task accidentally fell down from the fifth story of a building. He was sent to the PLA's No 324 Hospital in Chongqing for emergency treatment. But the hospital refused to give him emergency treatment because his relative did not bring enough money to pay the required expense. As a result, the 23-year-old retired solider died. This matter aroused popular indignation.Yesterday, some 10,000 people stormed No 324 Hospital and clashed with the riot police. Ten people were injured when the police were beating the masses. To prevent more serious clashes, armed and riot police, numbering several hundreds, stayed in the vicinity of the hospital today to take precautions.
As this centre has learned, the retired soldier was doing cleaning work on the fifth floor of a building when he lost his footing and fell down. He was first sent to Chongqing's Nanqiaosi Hospital and then transferred to the No 324 Hospital for emergency treatment. At that time, because his relative did not bring enough money to pay the 20,000-yuan emergency treatment expense, the Emergency Centre of No 324 Hospital refused to give him emergency treatment. Despite repeated requests made by the relative, saying that the injured was a demobilized and retired soldier, the hospital still refused to do anything. Two hours later, when the relative came back with enough money, the 23-year-old lad had died. Extremely enraged, his family members came out in the afternoon to protest at the door of the hospital, holding a picture showing this young soldier in uniform. This news quickly spread in Chongqing, triggering indignation among the residents. By 6 pm, when people were going home from their workplaces, thousands of people had gathered in Jianxin East Road to stage a protest, blocking the traffic. By 8 pm the number of protestors had reached 10,000 and was still growing. They carried a banner bearing words that criticized the government and tried to break into the hospital. The riot police seized the pictures of the dead held by his family and the masses as well as the protesting banner, and a clash between the masses and police ensued. Ten people were injured when the police were beating the masses. At 10 pm the masses began to leave, while the family of the dead were taken away by several mini-buses. Even today they could not make contact with other people. Presumably, they are under house arrest. In response to our inquiry, the Guanyinqiao Police Station confirmed this incident. A worker of Boai Hospital, which faces No 324 Hospital across the street, confirmed that last night's protest involved more than 10,000 people. According to a doctor of that hospital, the family of the dead told the supporting masses that last year this retired soldier had rushed to rescue victims of the 12 May earthquake at the risk of his own life.
No 324 Hospital is a unit of the Chengdu Military Region. It is open to the public as a designated medical facility in Chongqing Municipality. It is also an emergency treatment centre in Chongqing's Jiangbei District.
14 May 2009, 2:30 pm
Source: Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, Hong Kong, in Chinese 14 May 09
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