The death of a three-year-old in China has sparked outrage over social media after the boy’s father blamed the nation’s strict COVID-19 policies for “indirectly” killing his son.
Official records state that the child died of carbon monoxide poisoning, however, speaking to Reuters, the father Tuo Shilei said, “I personally think that he was indirectly killed.”
Shilei recalled that around midday on Tuesday, his wife slipped and fell, affected by gas fumes while cooking. Soon, he noticed that his young son too has been affected.
They are residents of Gansu province, which has for months been under lockdown.
He tried to call for an ambulance but was unable to get through. In just 30 minutes Wenxuan’s condition worsened and after performing CPR Tuo rushed him to his community compound’s entrance. However, due to the strict lockdown, staff at the gate didn’t allow him to go through telling him to call neighbourhood authorities or an ambulance.
Faced with the barrier, the frantic father crashed through the gate, and thanks to some “kind-hearted” people got a taxi to the hospital. However, on the way, they faced another checkpoint, which caused further delay and the child died.
“There was the COVID situation at the checkpoint. The staff did not act, and then ignored and avoided the problem, and then we were blocked by another checkpoint,” said Tuo, adding, “No help was provided. This series of events caused the death of my child.”
On China’s Twitter-like Weibo platform, the incident and the hashtag “Three years of COVID was his entire life” has created a storm and 380 million people read what happened before posts were taken down.
Tuo claims that he was contacted by someone claiming to be a retired local official who offered him 100,000 yuan ($13,743) to keep mum about his son’s death. However, the father said he rejected the offer, adding that he demands an explanation for his toddler’s death.
Source: wionews.com