老人被狗绳拽倒重摔身亡，官方通报：是意外！丨Compensation a way to make amends
17日，广东佛山一位老人被一只飞奔的狗戴的狗绳绊倒身亡。次日，当地发布通告，一名12岁小女孩解开邻居狗带出来玩导致该事件，目前被定性为意外事故。
A video clip of a tragic accident went viral on social networking sites on Tuesday. It shows an elderly woman standing by the roadside when two dogs, one leashed, rush past her. Suddenly, the leash gets entangled in the elderly woman's foot, pulling her forcibly till she falls, her face hitting the ground with a force.
Soon after, a girl comes running, looking for the dog. On finding the woman badly hurt, she drags the dog away. As bystanders gather at the site, the girl quickens her pace until she is out of the frame.
The police in Foshan, Guangdong province, issued a press release on Tuesday saying the elderly woman died in hospital. The dog belonged to a nearby restaurant and the girl, 12, untied it, and was out to play with it when tragedy struck.
The police are treating the incident as an accident while the dog owner and the elderly woman's family are negotiating with each other. The family is within its right to seek damages for the woman's death. Some on social networking sites said the compensation was of no use now; it would not bring the woman back.
However, it can be a kind of small consolation for their losses, both economic and emotional; for the one who is responsible for the accident, the money is a kind of penalty warning them against being irresponsible in the future. The girl's guardians and the dog owner might need to shoulder the compensation amount. However, if the girl took the dog away without its master's knowledge, the master may not be as responsible.
For society, the compensation should serve as a reminder to be mindful of others' safety and to ensure similar accidents do not recur.
记者：张周项
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