Video of Guangzhou Man Burning to Death Sparks Debate

By Tristin Zhang

On April 15, a horrific 40-second-long video emerged online that shows a man trapped on the burning balcony of his apartment. 

In the video, the man is seen with his legs sticking through the metal bars on the corner of the balcony and is heard crying for help while trying to cover his head with a t-shirt. He was eventually found dead. 

Understandably, the footage has stirred up some passionate moral debate. 

The Guangdong Fire Department reprimanded the video recorder through their offical Weibo account, saying, “Other than ‘condemnable’, ‘scornful’, ‘shameful’ and ‘contemptible’, we found no words to describe the recorder of this extremely cold-blooded video, not ‘rational’ nor ‘calm’.” 

This saddening incident occured on the afternoon of April 14, on the fifth floor of an apartment building located in Hengtancun village in Guangzhou’s Huadu District, according to YCWB. 

The Huadu Police Department said the fire was reported around 4pm and that by 4.40pm the blaze was extinguished. One dead body was found at the scene and was later identified by his surname Li. The man was a 30-year-old resident of Huadu District and the owner of the apartment.

Netizens have mixed feelings on the Guangdong Fire Department’s comments on the individual who recorded the video. Some have said that onlookers didn’t try their best, while the majority expressed their sympathy for the recorder, saying that he or she had probably called the police and that it’s not fair to morally judge. Others compared the recorder with war correspondents – capturing a scene where people died for future reference.  

[Image via XKB]

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