Mourning and anger mount in aftermath of Chinese school gym roof collapse
- Families of the 10 members of a volleyball team and teacher who died in the accident in Qiqihar marked the culturally significant seventh day after death
- Internet users around the country ordered tributes to be left outside the school while others demanded answers about the accident
In Chinese tradition, the seventh day after death is the time when the souls of loved ones revisit the world for the final time.
The roof collapse in the city of Qiqihar in Heilongjiang province last Sunday killed 10 members of a middle school girls’ volleyball team and their coach.
In a message posted online early on Saturday, a mother said she had prepared some make-up before her daughter was buried at sea the following day.
“My child, your school bag was found [in the ruins] yesterday but your mobile phone was not here, only the medals and the pocket money you’d saved, and do you know how heartbroken I was when looking at all of those?” the mother wrote, according to an online video account owned by Changsha TV in Hunan province.
“I know you loved to be beautiful, and when I wake up the next morning, I’ll bring lipstick, powder blush and eyeshadow to the mortuary and your burial at sea.”
