Hundreds of angry protesters ran riot at Songgang People's
Hospital in the Bao'an District of Shenzhen, in south China's Guangdong Province, on Monday evening, four
days after a 9-year-old boy died there.
The Southern Metropolis Daily reported yesterday that
the protesters, who all claimed to be from the same town as the
dead boy, blamed his death on the negligence of hospital staff and
demanded that hospital authorities give them a satisfactory
explanation. The newspaper didn't say where the boy was from.
On Monday afternoon more than 500 protesters from Shenzhen,
Guangzhou, Dongguan and other parts of the province converged on
the hospital.
The boy's mother, surnamed Chen, said that at least 1,000 people
were scheduled to come and lay siege on the hospital. Vehicles
owned by protesters from Guangzhou and Dongguan had reportedly
jammed the hospital's entrance.
According to a hospital statement submitted to the district
health authorities protesters had attacked at least five surgeons.
Some other doctors had been forced to stay at home. The pediatric
department had almost ceased to function.
The hospital deployed more than 100 security guards on each
floor to stand guard against the demonstrators, who carried banners
reading "Return my son to me."
Similar banners were also hung on the hospital's gate, along
corridors and near elevators.
Lin Xinhao, the boy who died, was sent to the pediatric
department at 2 PM on Thursday when he complained of stomach
pain.
The newspaper reported that the surgeon on duty had diagnosed
the boy with a respiratory tract infection. After a skin test the
surgeon gave him penicillin.
Four hours later Lin was confirmed dead. Lin's parents claimed
that no skin test was conducted on the boy.
"I told doctors and nurses that something went wrong with my son
one hour before he died, but they ignored me and arrived too late,"
the dead boy's mother said.
Chen refused to move her son's body until Saturday afternoon,
when she received 100,000 yuan (US$13,158) from the Songgang
Subdistrict Government Office.
Officials at the hospital refused interviews. The district
health authorities said the protest had seriously affected other
patients.
(Shenzhen Daily July 25, 2007)